Our Life, As It Is Now
by DragonGirl323
Summary: Vincent and Tifa have been happily married for a little over a year with a baby on the way. Then, one day, Barret calls and tells them he's planning a reunion.
1. The Phonecall

**Summary:**

Sequel to **Life, As It Is Now. **A year and a half have gone by and Vincent and Tifa are living in Icicle Inn. With a baby on the way, they couldn't be more happier. Barret calls and tells them that he's planning a reunion...

**Disclaimer: **

I do not own Final Fantasy VII in any way, shape or form. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this.

**Author's Note: **

Well, here you go! The long awaited sequel to **Life, As It Is Now**. I hope all of you like this. You know what everyone says about sequels, right? About them not being as good but I hope, in this case, that's not correct. It took me many moons of deep thought before I got enough material together to even call it a chapter. But, I hope that it isn't too short. I'll have the next chapter up, hopefully, before the end of Christmas Break. I'll also be updating a few of my other stories like **Beauty and the Beast **and **The Little Mermaid**. (If any of you haven't read them already!)

Well, enough of my banter! I hope you enjoy the sequel!

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**Our Life, As It Is Now**

**By: Jenna Mogavero**

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**Chapter I:**

**The Phonecall**

"Who was that, Tifa?" Came Vincent's voice from the upstairs bedroom.

I put the phone back on the receiver and began to slowly climb the stairs.

After Vincent and I got married, I handed over 7th Heaven to Travis and Krissy and moved to Icicle Inn with Vincent. I got a job working at the desk of the town's inn. It paid well and gave me something to do in my spare time. Vincent got a mercenary job, preferably monster hunting. Once a month he would go to Gongaga, Kalm, or Junon and get rid of the monsters in the area. He was paid rather handsomely, but the only thing I didn't like about it was he would be gone for at least a week or two at a time.

I reached the top of the stairs and stopped in the doorway of our room. Vincent was getting ready to leave for Junon. I stood and watched him pack a small duffel bag with a few of his belongings. He stopped and looked at me.

I took a deep breath and stepped into the room. "That was Barret. He's planning a get together and he wants us to come."

Vincent looked down at the floor before looking back up at me. "Not in your present condition," he said, before getting back to packing.

"But why?" I asked, anger starting to rise in my voice. "Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean that I'm helpless!"

Vincent turned and looked at me before walking towards me. He circled his arms around my waist. "I know you're not helpless. I just don't think it's a good idea."

"Why? We haven't seen any of them since our wedding. That was almost a year and a half ago! Come on! " I said, wrapping my arms around his neck.

He smiled as he let go of me and returned to his bag, zipping it up. He slung it over his shoulder and strode over to a television hutch that held anything but a TV. He pulled it open to reveal all of his guns. He pulled out his large hunting rifle, a small handgun and an automatic; for extreme emergencies. Vincent hardly ever used his automatics. He put the handgun and the automatic into his bag and put his arm through the rifle's shoulder strap and set it behind him.

"How long are you going to be gone?" I asked as I followed him out of the room and back down the stairs.

"No more then a week," he said, descending the stairs.

"Good," I said, stopping on the very bottom step. "That'll give us a few days to get ready. The reunion is going to be in Corel. The grand opening of a new banquet hall is a week from tomorrow. Barret said if we do come we could stay with him in his house. I'll call him later and tell him we're coming."

Vincent sighed and walked towards me. "I still don't think it's a good idea. You have to think about the baby."

"I do," I said, circling my arms around his neck. "I still have another two months before my due date. I'll even tell Barret to bubble wrap the guest room." I paused as he chuckled a small amount at my comment. "I mean, come on! Probably none of them know that I'm pregnant."

He smiled as he looked away from me for a few moments. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Fine."

I giggled as I squeezed him tightly. He gently enveloped me and ran his hands along my back. He backed up one step and grabbed my hands from their place around his neck. He intertwined his fingers with mine and kissed both my hands gently.

"I love you," he whispered, leaning forward and kissing me softly on the lips. "Be careful while I'm gone."

"I will," I said, smiling, giving his hands a light squeeze before letting them go. "I love you too. Come back soon."

He kissed me one more time then grabbed his duffel bag and walked out the front door. I walked over to the window and watched as he disappeared behind the house. He reappeared a moment later on the back of my gold chocobo, Seraph. He rode her out into the street and looked back at me, waving, before taking off and disappearing.

I smiled as I walked away from the window and back over to the phone. I set myself down in a soft chair and dialed Barret's number. It rang a few times then Barret Wallace's gruff voice picked up. "Hello?"

"Hi, Barret! It's Tifa!" I said, smiling.

"Hey! Well, did you talk with Vincent about comin' to the reunion?" He asked, hopefulness in his voice.

"Yes, I did."

"Well?" He said, his voice impatient. "Wha' did he say?"

"He said no at first, but after a little persuasion I eventually got him to say yes. When do you want Vincent and I to come down to Corel?" I asked, getting out a small piece of paper and pen.

"Well, today's Thursday isn't it?" He asked, a small amount of confusion in his voice. "When do you 'xpect Vincent gettin' back from Junon?"

"Probably next Wednesday or Thursday, maybe earlier," I said, tapping the end of the pen down on the paper.

"Well, I want you to give Vincent a little relaxation time before you travel here, so, just plan on comin' down late Thursday night or early Friday mornin'. I'll get the guest room all set for you guys."

"Thank you so much, Barret. It feels like I haven't seen you in years. I can't wait to see everybody again," I said, scribbling down a few things on the piece of paper.

"Aw, no problem, Tifa. I bet everybody'll be really happy ta see you again." He paused and cleared his throat. "Tifa, I was jus' wonderin'."

"What is it, Barret?" I asked, setting the pen down.

"I was jus' wonderin'," he said, like the question he was about to ask was something a little too personal. "When are you an' Vincent gonna have a baby?"

I smiled as I placed my hand on my round belly. "Well, in about two months now."

"Really?" Barret said, his voice full of excitement. "Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Vincent and I decided to wait until the baby was born to find out the gender."

"Aw shucks! Well, congratulations Tifa!"

"Thanks, Barret. Oh, and will you do me a favor?" I asked, tapping my fingernails on the polished wood of the small table.

"Anythin'."

"Don't tell anyone else that I'm pregnant until I see them, okay? I don't want to spoil the surprise."

"Oh, sure. You can count on me, Tifa. Well, I better get goin'. I havta make reservations for the reunion. I'll talk ta ya later."

"Okay, Barret. Bye," I said, hanging up the phone and setting it back on the receiver.

I leaned back and smiled. The next few days were going to go by so slow.


	2. Waiting Around

**Disclaimer:**

I'm only a Junior in High School. You think I have enough money to defend myself in court? I. Don't. Own. It.

**Author's Notes:**

Wow, Christmas Break? How about Summer Break? Geez, sorry peeps. I've gone through major writer's block for the past few months and I've had hardly any motivation, except my new Reno/Tifa **Why Do I Love Thee?** I've had a pretty good turn out for that story so if any of the reviewers for this story get bored with waiting go ahead and tell me what you think about that story.

Anyhoo, onto the chapter!

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**Chapter II:**

**Waiting Around**

As I thought, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday seemed to go on forever. I couldn't find anything to keep me entertained. I thought about going to the grocery store just as an excuse to get out of the house but realized I wouldn't need to until later, much later.

I actually found a book that I had been meaning to read but because I didn't have anything better to do I finished it pretty quickly. There was nothing good on television and none of the movies we had seemed to interest me at the time.

Monday afternoon, I was sitting on the couch reading the paper when the phone rang. It was so quiet that I almost jumped right out of my skin. I got up and walked to the phone, not caring to check the caller i.d.

_I hope it's Vincent..._

"Hello?"

"Tifa?" I sighed in relief as my husband's soft voice sounded in my ear.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked, walking back over to the couch and sitting down.

"Fine. How are you?"

"Bored out of my mind," I said, leaning back. "When are you coming home?"

"Tomorrow, actually."

"Really!" I squealed, sitting up straight.

"That anxious to see me again?" Vincent chuckled, a smile in his voice.

"Of course! I've been home alone for three days and there's nothing to do! Hurry up and come home!" I said, probably sounding like a small child.

Vincent laughed slightly. "I'll be heading out late tonight so I'll probably get back sometime around noon tomorrow."

"All right, good enough for me," I said, switching the phone to my other ear.

"Okay, I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you."

"I love you too," I said, smiling.

I hung up the phone and put it back on the receiver then collapsed onto the couch again, staring at the ceiling. I began laughing when I remembered how I sprang my pregnancy on him.

I wasn't really sure if I was pregnant or not, it had only been a week or two since we had sex and I didn't think you could tell that early. So, just to be on the safe side, I went to the grocery store a few days before Vincent came back from his last trip and bought a box of pregnancy tests. When my test came back positive, I just stood there in the bathroom staring at the small strip of plastic before I began jumping up and down, screaming.

I was _actually _going to have a baby! I wanted one ever since I was a little girl and now that I was going to have one, I was ecstatic.

Vincent came home the next day but I decided to wait two or three days before I told him. I wanted him to settle down first. He just doesn't shoot the monsters with his guns. No, he changes into Chaos and lets him feed on a few of them first. So, by the time he comes home, he's a little more closed minded with me then when he left. I just wanted to make sure it was Vincent reacting and not Chaos.

It was a Saturday night and we had just sat down to dinner. I was a little nervous about telling him so I didn't eat very much. When Vincent noticed, he stopped and asked me if I was all right. When I told him I was pregnant he sat there and stared at me before getting up from the table and walking over to the stairs, leaning against the railing.

I got up and stood beside him. He was taking deep breaths and his eyes were closed. He smiled curtly and looked at me.

"I don't feel so well," he said, before fainting.

I stared down at Vincent with a stupefied look on my face. Vincent**_ fainted_**! I actually got my husband to faint! I got Mr. Badass Former Turk to faint! I raised my right wrist and pinched it, making sure I wasn't dreaming before grabbing Vincent around the waist and pulling him over to the couch.

Once he woke up, he asked me if he was dreaming when I told him I was pregnant. I told him I wasn't, which only made him sit on the couch in a stupor for quite a while.

It took Vincent a few days to accept that I was going to be having a baby in about eight months. I didn't blame him. He's never risen a child before, heck, neither have I but I'm more excited then scared.

I put my hand over my mouth to stifle a yawn and decided to go upstairs and take a small catnap. I've been taking naps more often and, obviously, it's because of my pregnancy. I also think I've been driving Vincent crazy. Wanna know why?

For the past few months, I've woken up in the middle of the night with this strange craving for a certain type of food. I like to call them the "munchies." So, I ask Vincent to go buy me something from one of the gas stations in town. Sometimes it's as simple as a piece of chocolate to a hamburger and fries.

I can tell that it's getting on his nerves but sometimes I just can't help myself. But whenever I ask him if I'm getting on his nerves he shakes his head and says, "_You're_ not getting on my nerves, Tifa. But getting woken up in the middle of the night from a very deep sleep and then having to drive somewhere is."

The only comeback I had for his comment was a slap on his shoulder and a roll of my eyes. Sometimes I wished men had to go through what women do, like that 'special' time of the month or child birth. They'd be singing a new song if that was the case.

I curled up on my side of our bed and fell asleep. I was awoken a few hours later when the phone in our room started ringing. I rubbed my eyes lazily and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" I said groggily, yawning.

"Hey, Tifa! It's Yuffie!"

"Oh, hi Yuffie!" I said sitting up, a smile coming to my face. "How have you been?"

"Just great," the young ninja replied. "Are you and Vinny comin' to the reunion next week?"

"Yes, we are. It took me a while to persuade Vincent but we'll be there."

"Then you'll get to see my new boyfriend," Yuffie said, excitement bubbling over in her voice.

My eyebrows shot up. Boyfriend? "Since when do you have a boyfriend?" I asked, leaning against the bed's backboard.

"Since about a month ago. I need to marry someone in order to take the position of Empress of Wutai so my old man made a few phone calls."

"So, are you being forced to marry?" I asked, a little confused.

"No, I've known the guy I'm dating right now since we were little. He asked me out on a date before any potential 'suitors' showed up at my door."

"Oh, Yuffie, I'm so happy for you! What's his name?"

"Rin," she said proudly.

I smiled. "Well, I can't wait to meet him."

I heard Yuffie's father's voice in the background and he didn't sound very happy. "Uh oh," Yuffie mumbled. "Well, Teef, I gotta go. My dad's gonna shit a brick."

"Okay, Yuffie, I'll see you next week."

"Bye," she said before hanging up the phone.

I stretched my arms over my head and looked at the clock. It was almost nine o'clock. I got out of the bed and decided to take a shower.

Once I was out, I dried my hair and plopped back into bed immediately. Hopefully I'd be able to sleep until Vincent came home.


	3. Return

**Disclaimer:**

Nope...don't own it...but those people over there do. Yeah, you know, the people standing under the big Square Enix sign. Them.

**Author's Note:**

Yes, I know...it's been forever and a day since I updated but I've been working on this chapter for a while...I just needed to piece everything together. I hope you like it. I spent many moons of thought on it...literally. Peace out guys, leave a review when you're done and let me know how you liked it!

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**Chapter III:**

**Return**

The next morning when I woke up I tried to think of anything that I could do to occupy myself until Vincent returned home so I decided to look around to see what needed to be done around the house.

I gathered any clothes that needed washing and washed any dishes in the sink as well, but by the time I was finished with everything I still had at least two hours before Vincent's return and there wasn't anything else that I could think of doing to keep myself from pacing around in front of the door.

I walked over to the mantle of the fireplace to look at all the different pictures when I realized how dusty both the mantle and all the pictures had become. So I grabbed a dust rag and gathered all the pictures from the mantle and began wiping them off one by one.

Once I was finished dusting the pictures, I grabbed some furniture polish and cleaned off the mantle before placing all the pictures back on it. I stood back and inspected my work. I placed a hand on my stomach and smiled widely as I imagined Vincent and I in a picture with our brand new baby.

It was still kind of shocking to me. When I was a little girl I used to dream every night about getting married and raising a family, thinking it would never come.

But here I am, happily married to the man of my dreams about to bring our first child into the world.

I sighed and walked away from the fireplace, taking the furniture polish and dusting the coffee and dining room tables. I was in the middle of wiping the counter top when the front door opened.

I looked up and smiled when I saw Vincent standing there in the open doorway. He nodded, acknowledging my presence before closing the door and heading up the stairs. I placed the rag I had been wiping the counter with back in the sink and followed Vincent upstairs.

I had grown accustomed to his behavior when he returned from a job so I knew to give him his space. I stopped in the doorway to our room and leaned up against the door jam, silently watching him unpack his things. He immediately put his guns away and set all of his clothes into two piles: ones that needed to be washed and ones that didn't.

He neatly folded the clothes he didn't wear into the dresser then put the dirty ones in the clothes hamper. He turned to me and began to slowly walk toward me. He stared down into my eyes with his deep blood red ones.

I was kind of confused. When I had talked to him the other day he sounded like he was going to come home in a better mood than he usually did, but I guess I was wrong. He must have gone out after he had finished talking to me or something. I didn't know.

He leaned down and kissed me softly, lingering for many moments before backing away. "I missed you," he said, lacing his fingers through mine.

"I missed you too," I said, leaning forward and giving him another kiss. "Are you hungry?"

He shook his head. "No, I'll think I'll take a shower."

I nodded and began to walk out of the room but his grip on my hands tightened. I looked back at him, wondering what he wanted. I saw the look in his eyes and the right corner of my mouth curled up.

"Oh," I said, as he led me toward our bathroom.

We got undressed and stepped under the warm spray of water. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on the top of my head. I smiled as I wrapped my arms around him as well. We stood like that for quite a while before Vincent put his hand under my chin and pulled my head up so I was looking into his deep blood red eyes.

"Have I told you lately how much I love you?" He asked.

I shook my head. "Not since you left," I said, putting his long hair behind his shoulder.

He smirked as he leaned down and gave me a kiss. The kiss lasted longer than I thought it would and I had to take a deep breath when we finally parted. "I love you," he whispered. "More than life itself."

"I love you too," I said just as quietly, getting up on my tiptoes to give him another kiss.

"Are you sure you want to go to this reunion?" He asked, looking into my eyes sincerely.

I nodded. "Of course I do," I said, laying my head back on his chest. "No one besides Barret knows that we're going to have a baby."

"I'd rather them not find out," Vincent muttered.

I lifted my head off of his chest and gave him a funny look. "Why?" I asked, perplexed.

He chuckled. "You'll find out."

I frowned then rolled my eyes, knowing that Vincent wouldn't tell me then laid my head against his chest once again. We stayed in that spot for what seemed like hours until both of us got tired of standing in the now cold shower and got out.

I wrapped a towel around my body and handed him one then began to pick my clothes up. Once I was redressed, I put my hair up in my towel then looked back at Vincent who was drying his hair with his towel.

"Is there anything special you wanted to do for dinner?"

He straightened up, his wet ebony hair falling over his shoulders. He had a thoughtful expression on his face. "Why don't we go out?"

I shrugged. We actually hadn't gone out to a restaurant and had a fancy dinner since I got pregnant. "Sure, which restaurant?"

Vincent tossed his towel onto the bed and walked over to our walk-in closet. "It doesn't have to be anywhere fancy," he replied as he dressed. "Just somewhere we can spend quality time together."

I smiled as he walked out of the closet, now fully dressed. "How about that café on the corner?" I asked, grabbing both his hands in mine.

"Sounds fine to me," he said, leaning down and kissing me. "How long until you're ready?"

"Not long, maybe half an hour."

"I'll wait for you downstairs then," he replied, kissing me once more and disappearing from the room.

I rummaged around in my closet for a few moments before finally settling on a long black skirt and a brown peasant shirt that completely covered my stomach then grabbed a pair of black flip flops out of the closet. I dried my hair, put minimal make up on then left our room. Vincent was sitting on the couch looking through a gun magazine. He looked up as I walked towards him and got up to greet me. He grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers together before leaning over and grabbing the car keys from the table.

"Ready?"

I nodded. "How are you feeling?" I asked as he led me out of the house.

"Much better, thank you." He turned to me once he finished locking the house and wrapped his arms around me. "I'm just glad to be home. With you."

I smiled as I leaned into his gentle embrace. "I'm glad you're home too."

We stood on our front porch like a couple of lovesick teenagers saying their goodbyes after their first date. There was something so magical in that moment that I swore I wouldn't be able to put it into words even if I tried. It was like I was falling in love with him all over again, if such a thing were possible. Even though sometimes he seems distant I know that he really does love me and he cherishes everything we have together.

Our relationship, to me, is like fine wine. As it progresses it seems to get better and better. Of course we have fights. What couple doesn't? Stubbornness rules both our universes but we love each other too much to lose what we have made, but putting the other first is still something that I know both of us are still adjusting to.

Our embrace ended much too quickly than I would have liked. He reached into his pocket, gripping his keys. "Why don't we walk there?" He asked, with a hint of mischief in his voice.

I smiled. "Why not?"

He nodded then grabbed my hand once again, lacing our fingers together tightly. Spring was coming to Icicle Inn and all the streets were filled with large puddles. The trees that were protected by the snow were now left bare until warmer weather brought new leaves. But the air was still crisp and it made me wish I had brought a jacket with me. A slight chill ran down my spine that Vincent immediately noticed.

"Would you like to go back and get a jacket?" He asked, his grip on my hand tightening.

I shook my head and placed my free hand over our joined ones reassuringly. "I'll be fine once we get to the café."

He accepted my answer and we walked the rest of the way to the café in silence, just enjoying one another's company. We chose a table inside the café next to the window so we could look out and enjoy the scenery while we ate. When we stepped inside the café, I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt warm air quickly waft over my whole body. I quickly led him to a table and it wasn't long before a waitress brought us our menus.

We ordered and, as we waited for our food, I began to chew on one of my nails, one of my many nervous habits. I wanted to ask him how his hunt went, even though he probably wouldn't remember half of it. Remembering how is hunts go has gotten worse over the past year. Sometimes he remembers and sometimes he doesn't. I'm frightened that the demons sharing his body are slowly taking control and more often than not I have nightmares about waking up next to Chaos instead of Vincent.

"What's wrong?" He asked calmly, sliding his hand across the table and gripping mine firmly.

I jumped slightly, coming out of my revere. "Oh, it's nothing."

"Yes, it is or you wouldn't be biting your nails like that. You know you can talk to me about anything."

I nodded. "I know." I paused and collected my thoughts as Vincent sat silently and patiently, waiting for me to speak. Finally, I took a deep breath. "How did the hunt go?"

"Relatively well," he said, after a short pause. "I…I remember more this time."

I smiled. That was always good news. "Wonderful. Well, tell me about it." I reached across the table with my empty hand, prompting him to give me his.

"This job was one of the larger ones," he said softly, not wanting other people to hear. We were one of the wealthiest couples in town and we didn't want how much Vincent made to get out. "I was paid…rather handsomely."

My eyes widened. Vincent only said that when the amount he was paid was something to seriously scream over. I leaned in closer to him so all he had to do was whisper it. "How much?"

"Ninety-five thousand," he whispered.

The only action I could muster was a jaw drop. That amount was higher than any other payment he received thus far. "Why is this one so high?" I whispered back.

"There were more in the Junon area and the mayor was a little…worried. He told me from the beginning he would pay me whatever I asked if I managed to get rid of all of them."

"And did you?"

He nodded. "I killed about ninety-nine percent of them. The few that managed to live ran off into the mountains to either die be eaten. I don't think they will pose a problem but I told the mayor that, if another problem should arise, he could call me."

"Oh, Vincent, I'm so proud of you!" I said, reaching a hand up and softly caressing his face. "What would I do without you?"

"You'd probably still be living with Yuffie in Wutai."

I rolled my eyes. "I know. Don't remind me."

Our food came shortly thereafter and we silently enjoyed our meal as we always did. Afterwards, we paid and left for our house.

"I have to start packing once we get back home," I said, as we approached the house.

"I will…offer as much help as I can," he replied, smiling down at me.

I smiled back, knowing he was making a truly honest effort. He told me that he could never understand how it took me so long to pack when we would only be gone a few days at most but I always came back with something along the lines that if you wanted something done right doing it slowly was the best bet.

He usually rolled his eyes and smiled.


	4. Friends

**Disclaimer:**

Still don't own it...nope.

**Author's Note:**

Sweet Jesus! It's been over a year since I've updated this?! God, I bet all of you think I died or something...but alas I have not. And I've come up with a rather juicy plot line for this story. So hopefully some of you that were reading this are still out there somewhere. Even if I don't get a lot of reviews for this I'm gonna keep writing and updating it cuz I'm eager to finish this one.

Well, enjoy! Review, please!

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**Chapter IV:**

**Friends**

"Well, I'll be!" Barret came thundering down his front walkway to greet us. "I haven't seen you two in ages! Tifa! How ya been?" He gently wrapped his large arms around me and hugged me as softly as was possible for him. "Vincent!" He firmly gripped Vincent's hand in his large paw and shook it.

"Very nice to see you as well, Barret," Vincent said, beginning to massage his hand once Barret let go of it.

"Well, come on," Barret said, leading us inside his large mansion. "Make yourselves at home. As far as I know, you two are the first ta arrive. Everyone else is still gettin' their rears in gear."

"Tifa!" Marlene came bounding down the stairs almost too fast for her small legs to handle and sailed right into my legs. "Daddy told me! Daddy told me!" She squealed as I hefted her up into my arms. "Is it true? Is it true?"

"Is what true, sweety?"

She put her mouth right next to my ear and lowered her voice so only I could hear. "Are you really gonna have a baby?"

I smiled and laughed a small amount before putting my mouth next to her ear. "Yes, I am."

The squeal that erupted from that little girl's throat could have rendered every chocobo within a ten mile radius utterly deaf. As well as scaring half the neighbors and making them think their Mayor abused his small daughter. I wasn't sure about Barret or Vincent but my ears were ringing for almost two hours after Marlene's explosion of excitement.

Barret, who protested every attempt of mine to carry m own bag, insisted that he carry most of our luggage up to our guest room. His house is a two story and he even asked Vincent to carry me up the stairs since I was in no condition for "such strenuous activity", to quote his exact words, which I firmly detested and disapproved of. I told him I could walk up those stairs just fine. And it's not like I've never done it before; Vincent and I _do _have stairs at our home in Icicle Inn.

He grumbled his apologies and continued to stomp up the staircase as Marlene giggled at her daddy getting yelled at by Aunty Tifa. Vincent enjoyed a quiet laugh as well and put his arm around my waist.

The room that Barret had set up for us was a little more lavish than I expected it to be. Barret sure was pulling out all the stops; the room was larger than our living room and kitchen put together and I thought Vincent and I had a big house.

"Like the room?" Barret asked, when he stepped inside to set our bags down.

"Well, considering I could possible get lost in here, it's very lovely."

"I helped Daddy fix it up for you," Marlene announced proudly, taking my hand and squeezing it.

"You did, did you?" I said, ruffling her hair.

She giggled and tried to swat away my hand from her head. "I picked out the sheets! They're red like Uncle Vincent's eyes and the cloak he used to wear."

"Oh, really? That was very thoughtful of you. I think Uncle Vincent will like that very much."

She smiled and scampered off to go play somewhere in Barret's enormous house. Barret looked after his daughter in fond admiration before turning back and grabbing our bas off the floor once again.

"Well, let's get you two settled in. The faster we do that the faster we can eat. I wanna bring you two out to eat to my favorite place."

"Isn't everyone staying here?" I asked, a little confused. "What if someone gets here while we're out?"

"Oh, I'm not worried about that," he said, waving his hand through the air like he was swatting away the subject like it was a troublesome fly. "I'll leave the door unlocked so they can get in."

"Aren't you gonna be worried about someone breaking in? You are the Mayor you know," I said, putting my clothes away in a dresser drawer.

Barret sent me a knowing glance before laughing a small amount. "Tifa, there is no one in this town that's stupid enough to even think about it."

I chuckled and tried to imagine just what would happen if someone _was _stupid enough to try it. "It sure sounds like it pays off to be a mayor."

"Damn straight it does."

"Then it must pay off to be one of the Mayor's best friends."

"Oh hell," he said with a slight chuckle.

The rest of the time it took us to finish temporarily moving in was spent reminiscing about the Avalanche days and Barret hammering me with a million different questions about the who, what, when and why's of living in Icicle Inn. By the time we were finished I was hungry enough to eat Barret out of house and home. It took almost half an hour(at least it felt that long to me) to hunt Marlene down and by then I was ravenous. Barret picked his favorite corner bistro as our destination – which wasn't far from his home – and I swear everything I saw as we walked there mysteriously turned into a random item of food, which only made me even hungrier.

When we finally reached the bistro even the mulch in the potted plants looked edible and I probably would have jumped at the chance to cram a fistful into my mouth if Vincent wouldn't have shown up with a small loaf of bread for me to snack on.

The bistro, even though it was small, had a second floor and Barret's "reserved at all times" table was located on the balcony. As Vincent and I followed Barret I clutched my loaf of bread to my chest like it was a block of gold. Once we were seated I wolfed it down so quick I barely felt it go down my throat. I was starting to ask Vincent to go get me another one but he placed a hand over mine and smiled, effectively silencing me.

"Wait till your dinner comes." He patted my hand reassuringly and gave me a small kiss on the cheek, which only managed to calm me until our menus were brought to the table.

If an unpregnant version of me had been watching she would have been shaking her head in shame.

I was torn between three choices by the time everyone else knew what they wanted. After a little assistance from Vincent, I finally made a decision on a cheese steak sandwich with a side of onion rings.

Barret decided to make me the center of all his jokes until our food arrived. The sandwich I ordered turned out to be bigger than I thought it was going to be and I could only eat half of it. Vincent had taken control of my onion rings since my sandwich had been more than enough. Vincent, on the other hand, was was being a pig. He got a side of onion rings with his steak and he packed all of those away before attacking mine. I picked at the insides of the last half of my sandwich periodically as everyone was finished up their own meal. We were enjoying ourselves and it was pleasant outside on the balcony so we decided to stay and chat while our food settled.

Surprisingly, the first topic that Barret brought up – that Vincent or I had not even discussed yet – was possible names for the baby. We looked at each other blankly for a few seconds before Vincent piped up to answer.

"We haven't talked about names quite yet," Vincent replied sheepishly.

Barret chuckled. "Well you two better figure it out and quick. That baby will be here before you know it."

Vincent and I gave each other a knowing look, agreeing that we had put off name brainstorming for too long.

When we got back to Barret's house we went straight to our room to do as he suggested. No one else had arrived while we were gone, to Barret's surprise. He swore up and down on the walk back that the house would be "full of people", even though Barret's mansion house could occupy half the population of Corel, but he reassured us that they would be here in the morning. We bade Barret and Marlene good night then walked to our room hand in hand.

"The whole gang's gonna be together again!" Barret yelled as he ascended the stairs with Marlene in tow.

Well, everybody but two. Cloud Strife and Aeris Gainsborough. One murdered by a deranged psychopath; the other a victim of his own grief. Even after all the time that had passed since his death I still held a certain amount of love for Cloud Strife, but that love consisted only of two things: loving him as a brother and loving his memory. A part of me will continue to love him but I lost all respect for him when he threw his life away over his grief. All of us in Avalanche had loved Aeris. He wasn't the only one that had suffered that day. His dreams weren't the only ones that were tormented.

I cleared my head as I changed into a comfy pair of gray sweatpants and a large dark blue t-shirt. Vincent had thrown himself onto the bed and was staring up at the ceiling in deep thought.

"Tifa?"

"Hmm?" I answered as I took my earrings out.

He grew silent once more but I waited patiently, knowing that he would speak eventually. "I've been thinking..." He said as he continued to stare at the ceiling.

"About what?" I asked as I dragged my brush through my tangled hair.

"What do you think of Nicholas?"

I stopped in mid-brush and stared at my reflection in the mirror for many long moments before I turned around and stuck my head out of the door. "What do you think of it?"

Vincent grinned at me and chuckled. "I asked you first."

I flicked off the bathroom light and eased myself down on the bed next to him. He rolled over on his side and wrapped his arms around me, snuggling his head into an area of my lap that wasn't already covered by my still growing stomach. "Yes, in fact, I do like that name. What made you think about it?" I asked as I gently ran my fingers though his silky black hair.

"I don't know. It just kind of popped into my head."

"Has a girl name popped into your head yet?"

"No, not yet, but you should pick out a girl name since I have already picked one out for a boy," he said, grinning up at me.

"Okay, I'll do that. In the mean time do you have any ideas for middle names?"

"Hmm," he murmured before heaving a large contented sigh as he settled himself more comfortably in my lap. "How about...Nicholas Adam?"

I nodded and let it bounce around in my head for a few seconds. "I like that. If we have a boy that's what we'll name him." I paused as a yawn snuck up on me. "Now let's go to bed. I'm sleepy."

He chuckled and lifted his head off my lap and gave me a quick peck on the cheek before jumping up and stripping down to his boxers( his normal sleeping attire). We were asleep almost before we had a chance to say good night to each other.

The next morning both Vincent and I were shocked to see Nanaki, Yuffie, Cid and Shera sitting at the breakfast table with Barret and Marlene. When Yuffie saw me she reacted much like Marlene had as she jumped up from her place at the table and ran towards me, squealing the whole way.

"Oh Holy, Tifa, you look gorgeous!" Yuffie's eyes shone with excitement as she stared at my protruding stomach.

I laughed and gave her a warm hug. "Well I'm glad you think I am." I jumped when I felt a sharp inch on my side, which made me start to chuckle immediately, knowing full well that Vincent thought I was the most beautiful thing on the planet. I turned and flashed him my sweetest smile, hoping that he didn't take what I said to Yuffie too personally. A corner of his mouth perked up and he rubbed my back soothingly, letting me know that all was forgiven.

Vincent caught Yuffie's look of wonderment and he snickered low enough so only my ears would hear it. Vincent opened his mouth to say something but Barret beat him to it.

"Yuffie, will ya quit starin' at Tifa like she's a piece of meat? She's not the only pregnant woman on the planet ya know."

Yuffie's cheeks flared a bright red at Barret's statement and she scuttled back to her seat at the breakfast table, continuing to eat her food but now her face was so close to her plate that the use of her fork was no longer needed, which Yuffie didn't seem to notice.

Cid snickered at Yuffie as he enveloped me in a warm hug. "Hey there, Teef, how ya been?"

"I've been wonderful. How about you?" I asked, squeezing him back.

"Well, not too bad." He smiled as he laid a hand on my stomach. "You look beautiful, my dear. That makes two pregnant women in the house," he said, looking over at Shera and beckoning her over.

I covered my mouth to hide the fact that I was gaping like a fish as Shera approached, her pregnancy very obvious. "Oh my gosh, Shera!" I exclaimed, hugging the older woman. "Congratulations! How far along are you?"

"Almost six months," Shera replied, beaming happily.

"Do you know the gender yet?" I asked, grasping Shera's hands.

Shera nodded exuberantly. "It's a girl!"

"Oh congratulations again!" I exclaimed, pulling her into another hug.

"Well what about you?" Shera asked.

"A little over seven months," I answered, being rewarded with a crushing hug from Shera.

"Our kids can play together when they get old enough," the older woman remarked.

"Hey, will you guys get your rears over here already?" Barret asked, sounding a little agitated.

I giggled under my breath and settled myself next to the Yuffie, who still had her face buried in her eggs. Vincent took the seat across from me while Cid and Shera sat next to him.

Only a few moments after I had sat down, Red trotted over to me and plopped his head down into my lap. "Forget about me?" He asked, gazing up at me with his lone yellow eye, looking very much like a sad puppy.

"I could never forget about you, Red," I said, scratching behind one of his ears.

He grinned and snickered, leaning into my hand so I could give that spot a better scratching. "I'm glad to see you're having offspring of your won. I'll just have find someone else to look after mine and Seta's new litter."

I smirked to myself and decided to feign anger. "Nanaki! I can't believe you would do that to me! You know that I love all your cubs like they were my own children."

"Then I guess you still have the job," he replied.

"Here, Tifa," Vincent said, sliding a plate full of eggs, bacon and toast in front of me.

"Oh, thank you, Vincent," I replied, suddenly remembering how ravenous I was. I took a bite of the eggs and was very pleased at how wonderful they tasted. Since I knew what Barret's cooking tasted like, these eggs certainly didn't taste anything like something he would make. "Who made these eggs, Barret?"

"Oh, that was me," Yuffie said, pulling her face out of her own eggs. "Since my Pops can't cook to save his life I had to learn how to cook so we wouldn't starve."

"Well, they're very good," I said, enjoying another bite.

"Now all we have ta do is wait for Reeve's slow ass ta get here," Barret muttered, spreading grape jelly over Marlene's toast.

"Yeah, what's taking him so long?" Yuffie asked, chewing on a piece of bacon. "He's usually the first one to arrive at things like this."

"Aw hell, I don't know. He said something about having ta upgrade Cait Sith's something or other." He paused, trying his hardest to decipher what exactly Reeve had told him, but after a few moments of Barret making his odd 'rememberin' faces he gave up and shrugged his large shoulders. "I can never understand all his technical mumbo jumbo, but he called this mornin' and he said he'd be here tomorra."

"We all know Reeve," I said simply, earning agreeing nods from everyone at the table. "So, Barret, is anyone else going to be in this new banquet hall or is it going to be just us?"

"Oh! I forgot to tell you guys!" Barret exclaimed, sounding very embarrassed. "Since tomorrow is openin' day and all, ya know, it's gonna be more than just a reunion between us. Because I'm the mayor I had to make a grand event out of it."

Vincent frowned. "So does that mean that all of us are going to be the center of attention?"

"Well..." Barret mumbled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "No, not really. At least not all night."

Vincent looked away from Barret and the muscles in his human hand twitched. I pursed my lips and stared down at my food. Barret and Yuffie wouldn't have noticed something like that, they would have passed it off as a simple muscle spasm or think nothing of it all together. I heard the thoughts that were written on my husband's face all too clearly. He no longer wanted to be here in Corel. I knew of his extreme dislike of being the center of attention and being in the middle of large crowds of people. That's why he loves Icicle Inn so much.

I bit my bottom lip and stared down at my stomach, knowing that the main reason why he didn't agree with Barret's new plan was the fact that he didn't want my pregnancy broadcast over every wave length known to man. I nudged his foot gently and smiled at him when his eyes met mine. He tried to smile back but the sour look on his face prevented him from doing so. I sent him a knowing glance and mouthed the words 'We'll talk later'. Earning an understanding nod from him we both continued eating our breakfast.

"So, Barret," I began, feeling an impulse to quickly change the subject. "do you have anything planned for today?"

"Naw," he said, shaking his head. "Today is a day for relaxation. I gotta go into the office sometime before tomorra ta finalize everythin'."

"Well, that's good because I'm still tired," Yuffie said, getting up and stretching her arms over her head lazily. "Don't have too much fun without me," she said as she walked towards the stairs.

Vincent and I quickly finished our breakfast before retiring to our room as well; both to talk about Barret's new found plans and because we wanted to get more sleep too. I hadn't changed my clothes when we went down to breakfast so I made a bee line for the bed and jumped underneath the covers, snuggling into the pillows. I was expecting Vincent to climb into bed next to me but after a good minute had gone by I looked up and frowned when I saw him pacing slowly in front of the bed. I sat up against the headboard and watched him walk back and forth, giving him his space until he was ready to talk. I sighed as I realized that if I approached him now I wouldn't get anywhere. I could tell that he was frustrated, even angry at Barret; I had to admit that I was a little angry with him too. I was fairly certain that if the subject was ever brought up, Vincent and I would agree that if this gathering wasn't so important, not just to me but to him as well, we would both be on our way home right now.

While Vincent paced, I reluctantly crawled out from under the warm blankets and went into the bathroom, quickly throwing my hair up into a loose pony tail. Vincent had sat down on the edge of the bed while I was in the bathroom and beckoned to me when I walked out. When I went to sit down next to him he grabbed me and plopped me down in his lap. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I love you," I said, running my fingers through his hair.

"I love you," he replied, resting his head on my shoulder and laying his human hand on my stomach. "I am a little...agitated that Barret didn't tell us this new information earlier. I'm not mad about it." He paused and kissed my neck softly. "I'm angry that he's going to allow you to be exposed in front of hundreds of people. News like this," he said, rubbing my belly. "doesn't stay quiet for very long in situations like these."

"I know," I replied, laying my hand over his. "And it's not like I want the whole world to know that we're expecting, but this reunion means a lot to Barret and it means a lot to me as well. Us being celebrities shouldn't make any difference. Our lives were changed the minute we started chasing Sephiroth."

He sighed calmly and nodded, all his anger and frustration melting off him like ice under the sun. "I'm sorry," he said, scooping my hand up and tenderly kissing the back of it. "I...I just don't know what I would do if something were to happen to you. I would never be able to forgive myself."

"I'm not saying that nothing bad is ever going to happen to me, but don't act like you need to keep me under glass to ensure my safety." I smiled and kissed his forehead. "Remember Mr. Valentine, I may be pregnant but I can still defend myself."

Vincent chuckled, his morbid attitude totally disappearing as quickly as it had come. Instead of letting me get off his lap and get into bed myself, he stood up and carried me over to my side of the bed then set me down as gently as possible. "Now you get some more rest. I'm going to take a shower," he said, tucking the blankets around me.

I reached up and twirled a strand of his silky black hair between my fingers. "I wish I could have hair like yours, Vincent. Whatever you do it never seems to get dirty."

"I was actually thinking about getting it cut."

"No, don't do that." I stopped and paused for a second. "Well, if you want to get a few inches taken off that's okay. Just don't chop all of it off. I love your hair."

He grinned and kissed me softly before walking into the bathroom. I settled more comfortably into my pillows and fell asleep to the lulling sound of running water.


	5. Celebration

**Disclaimer:**

I didn't own the rights when I first started writing and I still don't...and I never will.

**Author's Note:**

Here's the next chapter, sports fans! Hooray! See? I told you I would keep updating! The story starts picking up in this chapter. You're prolly gonna wanna kill me when you finish reading it though. But I shall say no more! Please read and let me know at the end if you like it not. And don't worry...I shall get the next chapter up as quickly as I can.

Enjoy! Ciao!

* * *

**Chapter V:**

**Celebration**

I'm not quite sure the amount of time that had transpired since I fell asleep but an enormous clatter erupted downstairs that scared me into full awareness. Before I knew what was happening Seto, Nova and Kayo came bursting through the door in a flurry of dark red fur and fiery tails.

"Tifa!" They all screamed in unison and bounded straight towards me. They had grown considerably since I last saw them which scared me a little at first. I started to laugh and scream at the same time then grabbed my pillow, hugging it to my midsection. I braced myself for the three cubs weight to come bearing down on me but instead they jumped onto the bed gently and sat around me.

I looked at the three cubs and they all rushed forward, enthusiastically licking my face. I giggled and sat up, giving each of them a large hug while they sniffed me curiously. "Do I smell good?"

Seto grinned as he was sniffing my arm. "You always smell good, Tifa. You just smell...different."

Nova huffed when he smelled my stomach. "Hey, Tifa, why is your stomach so big? What have you been eating?"

I had to hold myself back from laughing out loud. Obviously they had never seen a pregnant human female before. I was getting ready to tell him exactly hwy my stomach was so big when Kayo started growling. I shut my mouth and turned to look at him. He was staring at his brother with menace in his bright eyes, his top lip curled up to reveal porcelain white fangs.

"Brother, be silent!" He growled, his hackles puffing up. "I will not tolerate you saying such disrespectful things to Tifa!"

I laid a restraining hand on Kayo's shoulder and the anger in his eyes immediately disappeared as he turned to look at me. "Kayo, it's alright." I smiled as I laid my hand on my belly. "I'm pregnant, not fat."

The cub's eyes widened with shock. They looked at each other excitedly then all three of them put their noses against my stomach and started sniffing it. "That's why you smelled different!" Seto exclaimed, looking up at me, his eyes bubbling with mirth. "I was smelling your baby!"

My eyes widened in amazement. "You can smell my baby?"

"Sure can," he said proudly, his chest puffing out.

A thought occurred to me as I idly rubbed my stomach. "Seto, can you tell the gender of this baby?"

Seto cocked his head and sniffed intently at my midsection for many long moments. Finally, he pulled his head away from me and cocked his head again curiously, like he wasn't quite sure what he had discovered. He sniffed me a couple more times before speaking. "Well," he started, still a little unsure. "I'm still new at recognizing human smells because human females, like you Tifa, use stuff Father calls 'perfume' to change their scent and males, like Vincent, sometimes do the same thing." He paused to consider his words. "Father says that's because you humans don't smell very good if you don't wear those pleasant smelling 'perfumes'."

Kayo's tail twitched in anticipation. "Will you quit jabbering and tell us the gender of Tifa's cub already?"

"That's what I'm still trying to figure out," Seto said, reaching a hind foot up to his neck to scratch an irritating itch. "I'm smelling both a male and a female, if I'm right." Seto's brows furrowed in confusion.

Nova's ears perked up. "Only two cubs?" He turned to me with an inquiring stare. "Do human females always have so little offspring?"

I nodded. "Our bodies aren't designed to hold a lot of babies." I turned to Seto. "Are you sure you smell two?"

"I'm pretty sure," he said, his fiery tail swishing back and forth. "I am quite sure that a baby human can't smell like a male and a female."

"No, they don't," I said, gazing down at my stomach with adoration. _Vincent will be so proud when I tell him! _"Hey, guys, do you think this should be a surprise for Vincent? Should I wait until they are born for him to find out we have twins?"

"If you want I guess," Kayo said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah," Seto agreed. "I'm pretty sure there are two but I'm not a hundred percent. Maybe you shouldn't tell Vincent so you don't get his hopes up."

I yawned and scratched the back of my head, turning to look at the clock sitting on my bedside table. My eyes widened as the numbers flashing back at me read almost four o'clock in the afternoon. I didn't think I had slept that long. "Are your sisters here?"

Nova shook his head. "No, Nariko and Naava are home with Mother taking care of the new cubs. We have three more sisters and two more brothers."

"Oh, I'm so happy for Seta! Is she doing well?"

"Yes, just very tired now that she has five more cubs to look after," Kayo said, smiling as best as his species could manage.

"What's everybody doing downstairs?" I asked, pushing the blankets and begrudgingly rising out of bed.

"Nothing really. They're watching television mostly," Seto said, hopping off the bed.

I took a deep breath and reached my hands around behind me to rub my aching back muscles. It seemed like every the baby(or babies for that matter) kept getting bigger and bigger, adding more strain to my body, especially my back. _Ah, well, _I thought. _That's just the beauty of being pregnant._

"Are you three going to come to the reunion with your father tomorrow?"

Kayo nodded exuberantly. "Father told us we would get to interact with more people. He actually told us to learn as much as we can about the different cultures around the planet from the people we meet tomorrow."

They followed me downstairs after I had fixed my unruly bed hair. Vincent smiled at me when he saw me come down the stairs. He scooted over so I could sit next to him on the couch.

"Reeve got here while you were sleeping," he whispered into my ear.

"Oh, where is he?" I asked, searching the room for him.

"Up in Marlene's room showing her all the new things Cait Sith can do, which gave Barret some time to take a much needed nap."

"Cait will keep Marlene busy for the rest of the day. She's missed him."

"How did you sleep?" He inquired, placing his hand on my stomach.

"Wonderful," I said, kissing him softly on the lips.

As I was turning my head towards the television I felt a faint stirring from inside my belly. I whipped my head back around to look at Vincent; he had never actually felt our baby kick before. Whenever it happened he was either gone or it was over so quickly he didn't get a chance to feel it. Now, as he felt his child moving beneath his hand, his eyes were lit up like a couple of a hundred watt light bulbs. And I knew for certain, as I felt the many kicks and pushes reverberate inside me, that Seto was right. I was indeed pregnant with twins. Vincent wouldn't take his hand off my stomach until we went to bed that night and even then, while we were lying under the cool sheets of our bed, he still insisted on keeping his hand on me, not wanting to miss his children's movements until he was fast asleep.

The next morning Barret was gone by the time Vincent and I dragged ourselves out of bed and downstairs to find some breakfast. Yuffie was a pile of nerves. She said she had no idea what she was going to wear and was even considering going out and buying something. I made her promise me she wouldn't do that until she was sure that none of the clothes she had brought with her wouldn't fit the occasion. She hastily agreed and dashed up the stairs to her room to go through her wardrobe once more.

Cid was sitting on the couch, smoking a cigarette and watching the morning news. I heard Shera scold him about his habit as I strolled into the kitchen to find some breakfast.

After breakfast Vincent and I shared a quiet shower before deliberating what we should wear. There was no question what he was going to wear: black slacks, black dress shirt. No surprise there. I didn't bring a lot of clothes with me but it took me quite a while to decide what to wear only because I wanted to wear a shirt big enough to hide my stomach from too many prying eyes. I didn't mind if people eventually noticed, I just didn't want to make it obvious.

By the time I had picked out my outfit: a pair of black cotton pants, a dark blue maternity baby doll shirt that had repeating patterns of small yellow stars along with my favorite pair of black, closed toe high heels, it was late in the afternoon. Believe it or not, I loved wearing those high heels. They were, surprisingly, extremely comfortable.

When we got downstairs, I was relieved to find that Yuffie had finally picked out what she was going to wear out of her own wardrobe: a black and silver traditional Wutain silk dress that fell just below her knees. When she saw me she raced over and gave me a hug while showering me with compliments.

"Thanks, Yuffie," I said, hugging the younger girl back. "Oh, by the way, where's Rin?"

Yuffie rolled her eyes at the mention of her missing boyfriend. "He didn't feel like coming." She shrugged her slim shoulders. "But it's no big deal."

"Well, next time we do something like this make sure to bring him. I'm pretty sure everyone here wants to meet him sometime."

Yuffie grinned. "I'll try. He's really shy though. It took him forever to ask me out on a date."

"Yuffie, did Reeve go with Barret?" Vincent asked, coming to stand next to me.

"Um, yeah," she said, straightening her dress. "Barret, Marlene and Reeve left a half hour before you guys got up."

"Did Barret say anything about when he wanted us to get there?"

Yuffie lifted her left wrist up and looked at a small silver watch, that I assumed Rin must have given her. "Well, it's a little bit before five. The reunion doesn't start until seven but he said he wanted us there as early as possible."

"Then let's go now," Nanaki said, jumping off the couch. "The banquet hall isn't farm from here. It's a nice day for a walk."

The evening air was crisp and I hugged myself, wishing for a warm jacket. I looked back at Vincent, getting ready to tell him that I was going to go back and get a jacket, but before I had a chance to say anything he took of his thick black, zip up sweater and set it gently on my shoulders.

I shook my head and pulled it off. "I'll go get mine so you won't get cold," I said, starting to hand it back to him.

"I'll be fine," he said, laying a restraining hand over my own and pushing the sweater back towards. "You need it more than I do."

"Okay," I replied, sliding my arms through the sleeves. "Only if you're sure."

I zipped up the sweater, thinking that it would help hide my stomach, but it wasn't big enough around and it stretched tightly over my abdomen making my pregnancy even more obvious. I sighed and unzipped it. When we arrived at our destination we were relieved to find Barret and Reeve standing in the main reception area talking with a few men. Marlene was standing behind her father, hanging onto his belt loop, looking rather forlorn. When she saw me she broke away from Barret and rushed towards me.

"Tifa!" She exclaimed as I hefted her up into my arms.

"I'm glad to see you too, sweetheart. I like your dress," I said, rubbing the edge of her pink sun dress between my fingers.

"Thank you," she replied with a smile, giving me a hug.

Barret waved us over and I moved Marlene around so part of her body and my arms would hide my stomach enough so none of the men would notice right away. I recognized the men enough to know that they were dignitaries from the other cities around the planet. If they found out first, word would spread faster than a wild fire.

"Great ta see ya guys," Barret said, greeting everyone. He introduced the three men as the Mayors of Nibelheim, Kalm and Gongaga. Vincent stood beside me the entire time with his arm around my waist.

The three mayors departed shortly after causing me to breathe a huge sigh of relief. I knew I wouldn't be able to hide from everyone – someone was bound to notice sooner or later – but the more people that didn't notice the better. I didn't feel like being shoved into the lime light anymore.

Barret took us to the top floor of the building and showed us around. The banquet room was enormous. There was a long table on one side of a large wood dance floor and many circular tables on the opposite side for all the guests. I set Marlene down and went to sit in the closest chair to the door. The building had eight floors and Barret insisted we take the stairs instead of the elevator so he could show us the entire building and I had carried Marlene the whole way.

I sighed with relief as I settled myself into the plush cushion of the chair. My stomach felt like it had a couple of lead weights inside it instead of my twins. I placed a hand on my belly and took a deep breath, massaging a sore spot on my back with my other hand. Vincent walked over and kneeled in front of me, placing his hand over mine.

"Is everything alright?" He asked, his voice shaking with apprehension.

I nodded. "Yes, everything is fine. Climbing all those stairs and carrying Marlene exhausted me. My back just hurts."

Vincent smiled, obviously relieved. "You're taking the elevator from now on."

I laughed and leaned forward to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "You don't have to tell me twice."

After showing us the room the reunion was being held in Barret conducted us around the building. He told us that this building was open to the public on wide variety of things like wedding receptions, birthday parties, business meetings and many other things. Apparently they were completely book for the next three months already.

About forty-five minutes before the reunion was scheduled to start the banquet hall's own personal caterers came in to set everything up. Barret had even managed to hire a DJ for the occasion; he arrived a short time after the caterers with all his equipment in tow. Barret began greeting the dignitaries and other important people when they began arriving. Vincent, Yuffie, Reeve, Cid and Shera, Nanaki and his three sons, Marlene and myself were already seated so when people started to come and talk to us the table protected me from early detection for I knew the second I got up to go anywhere someone would notice. Vincent offered to get a plate of food for me and I didn't object. I was hungry and getting stopped when I have a plate of food ready to be eaten in my hand does not merit a good attitude from me, just a very hungry and irritated one.

Two plates of food and many glasses of iced tea later I was content enough to ask Vincent to go dance. The DJ, having been advised of the kind of crowd he would be entertaining, had prepared himself and, instead of brining the fast, upbeat tunes all the teens enjoyed, he brought older instrumental numbers that all the older dignitaries would enjoy. Plus this was more of a formal event anyways. I leaned over to Vincent, hoping he wouldn't object.

"Wanna go dance?" Vincent frowned and was opening his mouth to object but I interrupted him. "Please? The exercise will be good for me."

Vincent sighed and shook his head, not wanting to give in but knowing that I would keep nagging him until he gave in. "Okay, let's go."

I smiled and kissed him before rushing over to the DJ to ask if he had any songs in his arsenal that we could dance a Paso Doble to. The Paso Doble is Vincent's favorite dance. He spent a lot of time teaching it to me and I soon came to love it as well; it's definitely a good way to stay in shape.

There were already a bunch of people dancing so I thought I would be able to keep flying under the radar for a while but as soon as we stepped onto the floor everyone scurried away like we were lepers. I inwardly rolled my eyes and Vincent shot me a look as if to say "Look what you've gotten us into now." I nodded my head and sent him a knowing glance. I almost wanted to curse the DJ when the music started but Vincent was right, I was the one that wanted to dance.

It had been a while since I had last danced with Vincent,(I actually think the last time had been a few weeks before we found out I was pregnant) but as soon as he started to guide me across the floor all his lessons came back to me and soon we were twirling and flitting around the dance floor like a couple of pros. A few times during our dance he would spin me out then pull me back in but I couldn't get as close to him as I normally could because of my current condition, one little aspect I knew people were going to notice.

We left the dance floor in a flurry of cheers and applause. Just that one dance had left me out of breath so I quickly returned to my seat and sipped at a glass of water that Yuffie passed my way. Seto trotted up to me and rubbed his head on my arm.

"If I could, I would dance with you, Tifa," he said, his chest rumbling as he purred.

I smiled as I scratched behind both of his ears. "I would love to dance with you as well."

He purred deeply before gently licking my hand and returning to his father and brothers. Vincent appeared suddenly at my side and placed a large piece of chocolate cake and a tall glass of milk in front of me. I wasn't very hungry but I would never dream of passing up a piece of cake.

I quickly polished it off and, having enjoyed it so much, was getting ready to ask him where I could get another piece when the twins decided to comfortably seat themselves right on top off my bladder. I sucked in a short breath and leaned over to Vincent, laying my hand on his arm.

"Vincent, I have to go to the bathroom really bad. I'll be right back."

"Would you like me to come with you?"

"No, I'll be fine. If I'm gone too long come look for me because I'll probably get myself lost in this place."

He smiled and planted a soft kiss on my lips. "I love you, wife."

"I love you, husband."

I quickly began to shuffle out of the room, trying to avoid as many people as I possibly could. It seemed like the farther I walked the farther the twins settled themselves on my bladder. By the time I found the bathroom I was practically running. Once I had relieved myself, I realized I didn't pay any attention to where I was going and had indeed gotten myself completely lost just like I said I would, without meaning it of course. I nervously bit at one of my nails, hoping that Vincent wouldn't have to come looking for me. I had only been joking. I didn't actually think I was going to get lost. I sighed and picked a direction to go, hoping I could guess my way back to the banquet room.

After about five minutes of hopelessly walking around the enormous eighth floor I decided to go down to the front desk and ask for directions to get back. I found my way to the stairs after another few minutes of walking and, while I stood there at the top of the staircase I considered using the elevator. I tossed the idea around in my head like a tennis ball being hit back and forth on a court before I finally decided to use the stairs on the way down and the elevator when I was coming back up. I needed the exercise anyway.

I was only on the seventh or eighth stair when someone grabbed me roughly from behind and slammed a cloth over my face. I gasped and started to panic, trying as hard as I could to fight off my attacker. I tried to scream but the cloth that was covering my face prevented my voice from carrying. I felt my arms and legs getting heavy and I realized that whatever was on the cloth was meant to knock me out. Every breath I took made me weaker and weaker and a fear colder than ice gripped my heart.

I was being kidnapped and, on top of it all, the bastard was knocking me out.

I squeezed my eyes shut and a few tears slid down my face. _Vincent..._ My last thoughts were of my husband as I passed into unconsciousness.


	6. Ronin

**Disclaimer:**

I wouldn't be able to claim the right of the game even if I wanted to.

**Author's Note:**

Yay here's the next chappie! I'm glad people are still reading this. It puts a smile on my face to know that people are enjoying what I have written thus far. And I'm sorry for the rather evil little cliffhanger. I wrote tons more for you to enjoy! So go be good little readers and read what I have provided you with! Review please! Thankies!

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* * *

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**Chapter VI:**

**Ronin**

"Tifa should have been back by now," I said, looking at my watch. "It doesn't take someone twenty minutes to go to the bathroom, pregnant or not."

Nanaki nodded and shot a nervous glance at the door. "Maybe she can't find her way back here," the red beast offered.

I shook my head, suddenly having a horrible feeling of foreboding. "No, she would have asked someone for directions back here." I took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind, keeping my emotions in check for the time being because if I didn't Chaos would use that as an opportunity to break free. I couldn't let these people be witness to one of the heroes of the planet turn into a blood thirsty demon.

"Come, Vincent," Nanaki said, snapping me out of my secluded thoughts. "Let's search for her together."

I nodded and quickly followed Nanaki's bobbing fiery red tail out of the room. Once we closed the door behind us, the large feline set his nose to the ground and started sniffing the floor like a dog would do. He immediately set off down the hall, following, what I presume, was Tifa's scent. After zig, zagging through several different hallways, Tifa's scent finally led us to the ladies room that she had gone into. Nanaki looked back at me. "Think it's safe to look around in there?"

I nodded once and walked right through the door. I jumped when I saw a woman fixing her make-up. She frowned and shot me an accusing stare. "Um, the men's bathroom is next door," she snapped, pointing to the wall she was standing in front of.

"I'm sorry. I'm looking for my wife. She has long, dark hair and...she's pregnant. Have you seen her?"

She shook her head. "No," she replied, going back to her make-up. "Hope you find her."

"Thanks," I replied, leaving the bathroom.

"Well?" Nanaki asked, a hopeful look in his eye.

"There was a woman inside but she didn't see Tifa. Maybe we missed her. She could be back in the ball room now. Let's head back."

"Alright," Nanaki replied, sniffing the air around him. "I'm still going to follow her scent." He set his nose back down on the floor and continued down the hall. The path he followed was just as confusing as the first. We had to backtrack more than once so Nanaki wouldn't get the many different trails mixed up.

The farther we walked the harder it became for me to take another step forward, the more difficult it became for me to draw in another breath. My fear was like a vice in my chest; it wrapped around my heart and lungs, squeezing them so tightly I thought they would burst. I could hear Chaos' laughter like a splinter in my mind, taunting me to the brink of madness. He was chipping away at my defenses, taking advantage of my weakness. I wouldn't give in. I couldn't. I had to hold on for Tifa. If she was in some kind of trouble I had to be in control of Chaos.

Suddenly, Nanaki let out an enormous sneeze that snapped me back to attention. "What is that?" He said, plopping himself down on his hindquarters and rubbing furiously at his nose.

"What is what?" I asked, looking at the floor trying to find what had irritated Nanaki's sensitive nose so.

He sneezed again then lowered his nose carefully back to the ground and continued down the staircase that we had stopped in front of. Nanaki's sneezes reverberated throughout the halls on our way down but when he reached the bottom he looked ahead of him and behind him with an extremely confused expression.

"What is it?" I asked, fearing the worst.

Nanaki sniffed the air a few more times before sighing and hanging his head. "I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it's some sort of chemical and a very strong one at that."

"So what does that mean?" I asked, starting to get frustrated. "Where is my wife?"

Nanaki sat down heavily. "Vincent, I think someone kidnapped her."

"What?" The breath left my body so quick my vision swam. My knees gave out but, even though it felt like gravity was pressing my body into the ground, it felt like it took years for my knees to finally touch the carpeted floor. I tried sucking in air but it was like my lungs had become the shape of peas. My breath began to get caught in my throat and I thought I was going to pass out. I started to shake my head, not wanting to believe that someone had taken her until I had concrete evidence. I coughed and tried to drag more air into my lungs so I would be able to choke out the next few words. "How do you know?"

"Well, that's just the thing. I can't say for sure if someone kidnapped her or not," he said, his voice wavering. "I didn't notice it before, but now that we're down here, away from the worst of the chemical smell, I'm picking up the scent of someone else. A male, I believe."

"No," I said, bracing myself against the wall and lifting myself to my feet. I pressed the side of my face into the wall and closed my eyes, trying my hardest to shut Nanaki's distressed face out of my mind. "No, this can't be happening." Tears began to spill from my eyes and I heard Chaos cackle at my weakness. "It can't."

**Believe it, Valentine. **Chaos sneered. **That cat friend of yours is right. Your little wife is gone. You're never gonna see her again.**

I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling more tears pool behind my eyes before they fell down my face. _Shut up, Chaos. Just leave me alone._

Chaos' laughter reverberated inside my head until it faded to nothingness, but he was long from gone. He was always there, always watching, always waiting. He was the splinter in my finger that refused to be taken out, refused to be done away with.

I opened my eyes and struggled to my feet. Nanaki hadn't moved from his spot on the floor in front of me, watching me patiently with his solemn, yellow eye. In those liquid depths swirled a hurt that wasn't too different from mine, a hurt from the bond of close friends that was coming dangerously close to being broken. He cleared his throat and looked away from me. "I suggest we return and tell Barret what has happened," he said before bounding up the stairs.

The rest of the evening passed by like a passing daydream. Barret raised the alarm, sending every security guard available to search for Tifa and the person that kidnapped her. All the guests were dismissed, but instead of returning to their homes like nothing had happened, each and every one of them insisted on staying to help search. I received many words of sympathy from everyone but I turned a deaf ear to all of them, finding no comfort at all; not willing or able enough to listen to anyone else's apologies when they could not possibly understand what I was going through.

After three hours of searching, nothing was found. Nanaki questioned almost every employee and had still discovered no leads. Barret gave me the job of babysitter. He didn't want Marlene to get mixed up in all the excitement of the search party and get lost; he also didn't want me to "lose my head" or let one of the monsters inside me escape. I argued with him for a lengthy amount of time before I finally gave in, knowing that he would never let me win. I wasn't alone though, Shera decided to stay behind and keep me and Marlene company, which I was grateful for.

Barret's wife had never been abducted, had never been kidnapped. From what I heard from the other members of Avalanche, Barret's wife had been killed when Shinra burned down Corel. At least he knew what had happened to his wife; I didn't know if Tifa was alive or dead or even where she was.

Barret disbanded the search party at almost two in the morning. He sent myself, Yuffie, Nanaki, Reeve and a very tired Marlene back to his house to get some rest, but sleep was the last thing on my mind.

* * *

When I regained consciousness the only thing I felt was the ear splitting headache that was pounding behind my eyes. I carefully lifted a hand to my temples, massaging them gently. I was a little disoriented at first but then the memory of being grabbed from behind and knocked out came back to me. I hesitantly opened my eyes and slowly scanned the room. It was morning, that much I gathered from the bright sunlight that was coming through the window. The room I was in was barren of any type of furniture besides the mattress I was presently laying on. I suddenly becoming very frightened and I had to fight the impulse to wrap my arms around my stomach like they alone could protect my unborn children. I could feel the sting of tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I slowly sat up and froze when I heard a faint shuffling coming from behind me.

"Ah, so you're finally awake."

My heart froze in my chest when I heard my captor's voice, my fear spreading like an icy wind to every nerve and pore in my body. I sighed and continued to sit up, securely tucking my legs close to my body and gathering up the gumption to turn around and look my captor in the face.

A young man, no more than twenty, stood next to the doorway. He had dark brown hair and pale green eyes. I was shocked I had been kidnapped by someone so young. It frightened me even more when I realized that he must know me and what I did in the past to be driven as far as this. I took a deep breath, chastising myself on being so foolish. Of course he knows of me. He wouldn't have gone through so much trouble if he didn't know who I was. I swallowed the enormous lump in my throat and opened my mouth to speak but my young captor didn't give me a chance. He lunged towards me and grabbed me by my throat. A second later I felt something nudge up against my stomach. I gulped and looked down, nearly fainting when I saw the barrel of a handgun was pressed firmly against it.

"Don't you dare say a word," he rasped. "It's all your fault! It's all your damn fault!" He let go of my neck and roughly pushed me back down on the mattress.

"What's all my fault!?" I screamed, not able to hold back the impulse to find out why he was holding a gun in my face.

He stared dumbfounded at me for a few seconds before a chuckle escaped from his mouth. I tried to scoot away from him but as son as I started to move he slammed the gun back into my abdomen, making me freeze in place. "You and your marvelous little terrorist group are the reason why Shinra brought the upper plate down on the Sector 7 slums." He paused and took a breath, tightening his grip on the handgun. "Actually, I don't blame the rest of your group. I blame you."

Now it was my turn to look dumbfounded. He snickered, figuring from the expression on my face that I didn't get it. "Have you forgotten already? Your bar was Avalanche's hide out!" He screamed, shoving me up against the wall that I had been trying to reach so desperately only a few seconds ago. "If your bar wouldn't have been in Sector 7, or even in Midgar at all, nobody would have been killed! My parents would still be alive if it wasn't for you!"

I pressed myself further into the wall, trying to get away from him and the gun he held in his hand. "We tried to stop them," I whimpered. "You weren't the only one to lose people you loved when the plate fell. I lost three of my best friends."

"They were members of Avalanche weren't they?" When I nodded my head slowly he scoffed. "Well, they got what was coming to them."

"How could you say something like that? We never wanted that plate to fall. We tried to stop it."

"It doesn't matter anymore," he began, letting go of me and getting up. "because you're never going to see your husband or any of your friends again."

He turned and started to walked towards the door but I wasn't about to let him get away without some information. "Wait," I said, setting myself back on the mattress. "At least tell me your name."

He stopped in the doorway and turned his face towards me. "Ronin." He reached over and grabbed the doorknob, slamming the door shut.

The click of a lock resonated through the room like a bell toll for hours. I had never been so scared in my life.

* * *

"Vincent?"

I jumped to attention and cursed myself for letting someone sneak up on me. I heard Chaos snicker and knew then that he had allowed it to happen. I sighed heavily and turned around, relaxing slightly when I saw Seto, sitting patiently a few feet away from me.

"Yes, Seto?"

The young beast padded over to my seat next to the window. He sat beside me in silence for a few moments before heaving a large sigh himself. "Did Tifa say anything to you before...before all this happened?" He asked, his voice quivering.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

Seto reached a hind foot up and lazily scratched an ear like he was trying to stall for time. "She didn't tell you anything about her...uh, pregnancy?"

My chest constricted when Seto mentioned the child that I may never get to see, may never get to hold. "No, she didn't. Was something wrong?" I asked, expecting more bad news.

Seto shook his head, making all the feathers and beads in his long mane to fly about. "No, no! Nothing was wrong. She had good news for you, but she said she wanted to keep it a surprise for you."

If the circumstances were different I would have been excited to hear good news about her pregnancy, more than excited even. Now anything I heard was just a reminder about how I might never see her again. I drew in a shaky breath, very reluctant to hear this news if Seto chose to reveal it. "Can you tell me what it is? Just in case I don't hear it from her?"

Seto nodded. "The day myself and my brothers arrived we did a little...experiment." He paused and took a deep breath. "Vincent, Tifa is pregnant with twins."

I stared at the young, fire red beast with a perplexed look on my face. This news was like a icy cold slap in the face. Nothing could have prepared me for this. I should have been happy to hear this, but no. No joy could be wrought out of this news. I leaned over and hung my head in despair.

_Twins, _I thought. _Must the Fates spit on me even now?_

Seto rested his paw on my knee, offering as much solace as he could. "I am much too young to take a mate for myself, but I feel a great sense of loss over Tifa's kidnapping. I believe my feelings are more on the level of what a child feels for his mother." He paused and lifted his paw off my leg. "I guess what I'm really trying to say is that you're not alone in this. All of us are grieving and all of us want her back safely. You don't have to carry the burden alone."

I nodded, finding relief in his words. "Thank you."

Seto grinned, looking very much like his father, before he turned and trotted away. I sighed and resumed staring out the window like Tifa would suddenly appear outside. I savagely bit down on my tongue and rested my forehead against the cool surface of the window pane.

"You alright, Vinny?" I rolled my eyes inwardly, not even having to turn around to know who had spoken. I glared at her until I got my point across. "Okay...stupid question I know."

"Yes, it was. Now, please, leave me in peace," I retorted, turning my head back to continue staring out the window.

I had no time to listen to Miss Kisaragi's senseless prattle; my nerves were frayed quite enough without the help of the young ninja. Yuffie, to my immediate, dismay starting talking about something Barret wanted to pass onto me but I effectively toned her out, neither wanting nor caring to listen to what she had to say even though it was something from Barret and probably important. After several minutes of no recognition on my end she stopped talking and shook my shoulder.

"You haven't heard a word I've said, have you? Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yuffie, I will not be 'okay' until my wife is safely back in my arms and the bastard that took her from me is dead. Now, if you don't mind, I wish to have some peace."

Yuffie stared at me with a blank expression, almost like she was expecting me to apologize about what I said and ask her to start over so I could listen intently this time. Instead, I toned out the rest of her questions and was very relieved when she eventually stalked away. I breathed a sigh of relief and settled myself more comfortably in my chair.


	7. Ransom

**Disclaimer:**

Yeah...still don't own it...

**Author's Note:**

Hello all! Here's another chapter for ya'll! Sorry it took me so long! Hopefully I'll be able to get the next one up faster!

Anyhoo, _this is a message to all who read this_, there's a loverly little button on the bottom of this page that feels rather lonely and unloved and would feel a whole heck of a lot better if you loverly readers would press him and leave a wonderful little message for the writer. If everyone who read this left a review I'd be swimming in them. So pretty pretty please with a cherry on top leave a review once you finish reading! :D

Enough of my babble though. Carry on!

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**Chapter VII:**

**Ransom**

I had no idea where I was. A small window, used to let in sunlight and fresh air, was my only clue to what the outside world looked like and, right now, the 'outside world' was a vast expanse of trees as far as the eye could see. I must have sat in front of that window for hours trying to find something, anything that would tell me where I was, but nothing was even slightly familiar. I wasn't given a chance to see the rest of the cabin either. Whenever I had to go to the bathroom, Ronin blindfolded me and led me there.

He feeds me three meals a day and even provided me with meager entertainment like books, magazines, puzzles, cross word puzzles, word searches, coloring books – he even threw in markers, colored pencils and crayons – a deck of cards and an assortment of other things. He never lets his guard down though; he continues to carry that hand gun around with him where ever he goes. He hasn't brandished it at me since the first time I met him, which was a week ago. He even told me he wouldn't point it at me with the intent to use it unless he had to.

I thought this unusually kind behavior was just a ruse to lull me into a false sense of security and catch me off guard when I was least expecting it. One side of me wanted to believe that he finally realized what he was getting himself into and was rethinking his actions, but the other side of me wasn't so confident. His behavior toward me was totally unexpected. I thought that all he was going to feed me was bread and water then leave me alone in my room with nothing to do but count the days I spent in captivity on the wall, which I had already started doing.

So, after he brought me my lunch, I decided to ask him all the questions that had been fermenting in my mind.

I reached out and grabbed Ronin's wrist after he turned to leave, hoping I wasn't crossing some invisible line. As soon as my hand wrapped around his wrist he jerked it away and whirled around with the gun in his hand. I jumped away and threw my hands up into the air to let him know that I wasn't going to give him a reason to use that gun.

"What?" He asked, putting as much venom in his voice as he could.

I swallowed the lump that was blocking my throat and put my hands behind my back, preparing myself to speak. "Well...why are you being so nice to me? I thought you wanted to kill me."

He face appeared thoughtful for a few moments before he lowered the gun back to his side. "I thought about it," he said, lowering his eyes to the floor. "I thought I could take a life and not feel any qualms about it. But...but I didn't expect you to be pregnant."

"So being pregnant saved my life?"

He nodded. "I guess it did." He paused and cleared his throat. "Anyways, I'm going to record a ransom tape and send it to your Avalanche friends. You and your group are going to pay me back for what you did." having said his piece, Ronin turned and quickly walked to the door to prevent me from stopping him a second time. Before he disappeared through the door he glanced back at me. "Oh, they're looking for you, you know."

Later that night, after I had finished my dinner, I was sitting next to the window before going to bed, gazing at the stars, when all of a sudden I remembered how I made Cloud promise me to be my knight in shining armor whenever I was in trouble. Tears welled up behind my eyes at how much I missed him. It's been almost two years; I thought I was finished mourning over his death. I had thought I had put it all behind me.

_I have, _I thought. _The memories are the only thing that hurts anymore._

I laid my hands over my stomach as I felt my twins moving around inside me. They were totally oblivious to the danger they were in and I hoped I would never have to tell them about this. Everyday I spend here in this place is a day closer to my due date and every time that thought enters my head the fear of where I will deliver these babies gets bigger and the more frightened I become that I won't be rescued in time to save them if they come early.

_Please, Vincent, wherever you are, please hurry._

* * *

"Vincent! Wake up, dammit!"

I slowly opened my eyes and groaned as a blast of sunlight burned holes in my retinas. I slapped my hand over my face and furiously rubbed at my eyes. Once my eyes stopped burning and the tiny stars disappeared, I was able to see who woke me up.

"Good morning to you as well, Barret," I grumbled, sitting up against my pillows. "Do you have any news?"

"I do actually," he said, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

"Do we know where she is?" I asked, ready to jump out of bed and fly out the door that very second.

"We found an eye witness that says they saw someone sneak out the back door of the banquet hall carryin' a pregnant female. He got on the back of a gold chocobo and ran off. They don't know which way they went."

I sighed and hung my head. "A gold chocobo. So they could be anywhere right now."

"And we don't even know what the bastard looks like. The eye witness couldn't get a good look at 'im 'cause of how dark it was outside. The only thing we can do now is get word out through the media. That is, if it's alright with you."

I frowned slightly and was a little surprised that Barret had actually asked my permission to do something. I nodded – not like I was gonna turn him down – and watched him leave the room. He hadn't even had to ask my permission to get word of Tifa's kidnapping out to the public. This would be the sort of thing were permission is implied. I exhaled the breath that I was holding in and flopped back onto the bed.

**What the hell is wrong with you, Valentine? Are you seriously that attached to her? **Chaos said, the ever perpetual sneer in his voice.

_I wouldn't expect you to even begin to comprehend something like love, demon. How can you understand it when you're incapable of loving anything?_

**Oh come on, Valentine, you should know better than that. You know that I love you, don't you, Vincent?**

_Don't try to fool me, Chaos. You love me about as much as you love your next meal._

**Now that was below the belt. That one hurt, **he said, feigning sadness.

_Enough, Chaos. Leave me alone._

Chaos snorted in disgust. **Give me a break, Valentine. The only reason why you're so touchy is because you're letting everyone else do the work. We both know that if you get your whiny ass out there and track the bastard yourself there's a better chance that you'll find him before anyone else gets close.**

I sat up and carefully pondered his words for a few moments before pushing myself out from under the warm covers, my mind made up. I trudged over to my bag and pulled out my old, tattered cloak, slowly running my fingers over the fabric before collecting rest of my clothing. I'm not even sure why I carry the thing with me even though I swore to myself that I would never put the damned thing on again after Tifa and I were married. I guess it's more for sentimental value than anything.

I slid the Cerberus into my leg holster and glided down the stairs. Reeve, Yuffie and Shera were assigned the duty of contacting all the dignitaries in each city and giving them all the information about Tifa that they could so a missing person poster could be distributed to everyone. Cid was helping Barret out in any way that he could, saying something about feeling like a bump on a log for not contributing. Barret was offering a hefty amount of gil to anyone that could provide concrete information about where she was or who took her.

Yuffie had made the posters for Corel and had already handed a few of them out to local businesses. I leaned over and picked one off of the coffee table. All three people sitting around it were so preoccupied with their phone calls that they didn't even notice my presence until they had finished their conversation.

"Oh, hello, Vincent," Reeve said, smiling pleasantly at me. "I didn't see you walk up."

"I noticed," I mumbled. I was much too busy gazing at the picture Yuffie had found for the poster. Somehow, while sifting through all the pictures on Barret's computer, she had found some of our wedding photos and had picked one out where Tifa was posing alone. She had cropped the photo so that only her face was on the paper.

She had looked...so radiant that day. While Cid was escorting her down the aisle she looked like an angel. She had refused to let me see her dress before the wedding day because of an old myth or something, but when I saw her in her dress for the first time I was glad that she hadn't shown it to me. I was so captivated by her that I could barely repeat the words the priest was saying. I closed my eyes and looked away from the picture, feeling the sting of tears at the thought that I may never see her again. I took a deep breath and quickly blinked them away, setting the poster back amongst the others.

I cleared my throat and looked at the expectant faces of Reeve, Shera and Yuffie. "I'm leaving."

Shera frowned. "Leaving? Vincent, what do you mean?"

"I'm going to look for Tifa myself. My tracking skills might be good enough to find her, wherever she is." I paused and drew in a deep breath. "I haven't been myself lately and I apologize for that – "

"Vincent," Yuffie interrupted. "stop apologizing for shit that isn't your fault! Your wife was abducted right from under all of our noses! And if you think that her being kidnapped is your fault then you better think again!" By now Yuffie was standing in front of me shouting loud enough for everyone in the entire house to hear. "You may have those friggin creepy demons inside you but you can't predict the future! We are coming together as a team to find Tifa and if you going out to see if you can track the bastard that took her down then go do it! But don't you dare think that you're alone in this."

I was shocked into silence when the young ninja had started yelling at me. As long as I had known her I had never heard her yell at anyone like she had just yelled at me. I didn't even think she had it in her. I nodded and walked towards the door, still too thunderstruck to offer a retort. I found my voice when I reached the door.

"I stand thoroughly corrected," was all I said before disappearing out the door in a flurry of red, tattered cloak.

* * *

Early that morning I heard Ronin mumbling and moving things about in the other room. I moved over the the door and pressed my ear up against it in hopes of finding out what he was doing. A chair scraped across the floor, setting my teeth on edge. Ronin's soft mumbling could once again be heard and a dull scratching sound, that I presumed was him writing something on a piece of paper, joined his voice. I bit my lip as I realized he was probably writing down what he was going to say for the ransom tape.

I sighed and backed a few steps away from the door before quickly knocking on it. "Ronin?"

"Yes?"

"I need to go to the bathroom."

I heard the chair scrape back across the floor, followed by his footsteps. He thrust the blindfold under the door and I, knowing the routine, scooped it up off the floor and tied it around my eyes.

"Okay."

Ronin quickly inspected my blindfold job and, being satisfied with it, led me to the bathroom so I could take care of my business. Once I was securely back in my room he brought me my breakfast. I was almost finished when Ronin barged into my room, carrying a backpack in one hand and a small white cloth in the other. Before I had time to even think about reacting he rushed towards me and slammed the cloth over my nose and mouth. I realized then that was how he had kidnapped me in the first place so I tried to pry his hands away from me so I could get rid of the cloth but my attempt was once again futile. I slipped in unconsciousness without even putting up a fight.

When I woke up it was pitch black all around me. I lifted my hands to my face to check if there was a blindfold over my eyes, but there wasn't. The surface I was lying on was extremely hard and bumpy, making my back cry out in protest with every breath I took in. The air was musty and old, similar to the atmosphere of an ancient tomb left unopened for centuries. I licked my parched lips and scanned the dark emptiness around me, trying to make something of my surroundings out. Every sound I made seemed to echo endlessly off into the distance and I could hear a faint dripping of water somewhere, indicating to me that Ronin had brought me to a cave.

He was smarter than I thought. He was going to keep moving me around so Vincent or anyone else for that matter would have no chance of finding me until he was ready. I knew then that he was serious about procuring ransom money from my friends. The only thought that would be running through my head for days to come was the fear that he wouldn't give me back once the ransom money was given to him.

I jumped when a soft click resonated through the cavern, followed by a bright beam of light pointed directly at me. I snapped my eyes shut and covered them with my hands to shield them so I wouldn't be blinded.

"You know," Ronin began, taking the beam away from my face. "it really is quite difficult to find suitable hideouts when your Avalanche groupies have everyone on the damn planet on the look out for you."

"Well then maybe you shouldn't have kidnapped me," I snapped, slowly sitting up. "Where did you bring me anyways?"

"Look around you," he said, shining his flashlight around the immense rock cavern.

I rolled my eyes. "Do you know how many caves there are on this planet?"

He chuckled. "Exactly. Why would I want to tell you, my captive, where we are? That would defeat the whole purpose of abducting you. If I told you were I've brought you, be near a city or what have you, you'll try to escape and I won't put up with that." He patted the handgun that was tucked into his pants.

I sighed and wrapped my hands around my cold feet. I would have killed for a warm pair of wool socks right about now. It was always warm in the cabin so I walked around without my high heels all the time, not worrying about my feet getting cold. I presumed they were still in the cabin. My pants and shirt were dirty and stinky from being worn constantly; it wouldn't have killed him to get me some extra clothes.

"How far along are you?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"A few days over eight months."

"Well, then I hope your friends get the ransom money together quickly. I would hate for your baby not to be born in a hospital."

"Yeah," I said, putting as much hate in my voice as I could. "that would just break your heart, wouldn't it?"

He chuckled but said nothing more. He dug the pad of paper that he had begun scribbling the ransom note on out of his pack and continued to write. After about an hour he finally stopped writing and began rummaging through his old backpack. He pulled out a small tape recorder then got up and disappeared into the darkness. It seemed like hours had passed before he returned carrying a large bundle of wood, hopefully to make a fire.

He laid it down on the ground and stood them up against each other so the pieces of wood resembled a tee pee before striking a match and tossing it into the middle of it. The wood kindled quickly and I scooted closer to it so my feel could warm up. Ronin turned to me and tossed me a packet of jerky, a bag of potato chips and a bottle of water then before walking off once more.

I greedily dug into the jerky and chips, scarfing it down like I hadn't eaten in days. I crossed my legs and took a sip of my water, wondering exactly how deep this cave system was and how far away I was from the exit. The thought of creeping off and seeing if I could discover the exit popped into my head but I quickly pushed that thought from my mind and hugged my belly. Caves were dangerous things, the tunnels spanned underground for miles and some paths even led to sharp drop offs of fifty feet or more. I shuddered at the thought, promising my twins that I would never think such a ludicrous thought again.

It was many hours before Ronin returned with more fire wood. By the time he got back the fire was almost out so I smiled as the fire sprang back to life once he added the extra wood. I was getting ready to speak when Ronin decided to say something.

"Get some rest. I brought enough wood to keep us warm until morning. I've already recorded the tape and sent it off so your friends should be getting it soon. We'll be relocating again in the morning so be prepared."

With that said, Ronin pulled some thin blankets out of his pack and passed a couple of them to me. He settled under his own blanket and used his back pack as a pillow. I scooted closer to the fire and stared at my two blankets, figuring that I was supposed to use one as pillow. Sighing I folded one of them up until it was thick enough to suffice and curled up under the other one. I covered my face with a corner of the blanket and silently wept.

* * *

Three days after I had begun my search, I received a call from Barret on my cell phone that I needed to get back to his house ASAP. Before I could even ask him why he had hung up. I was in the mountains by Junon and, with a little help from Chaos, made it back to Barret's home in Corel in record time. I flew in the front door, startling everyone else.

"Where's Barret?" I asked, urgency written all over my face.

Shera walked up to me and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "He's not here yet. He should be here soon. Come and sit down. You look exhausted."

I let Shera sit me down in a chair in front of the dining room table. A few seconds later she pushed a mug of tea into my hands. "Thanks you," I said, smiling at her.

"Now you drink all of that," she said, with a soft commanding tone. "It'll make you feel better I promise."

And drink all of it I did. Barret came flying in the door just as I was placing my empty mug into his sink. Once I joined everyone in the living room I saw that he had a tape in his hand.

"Okay, everyone, gather 'round! This is it! This is it!"

Yuffie, who had jumped off the couch when he barged in, ran over from her place in front of the television. "What's it, Barret? What is that?"

"This," he began, showing everyone the tape. "was delivered to my office this morning." Barret looked over at me and took a deep breath. "It's a ransom tape."

I forced myself to swallow the lump that had settled in my throat. "Let's listen to it," I mumbled.

Barret nodded and walked out of the room, reappearing moments later with Marlene's white cassette player. He set it down on the dining room table and carefully placed the ransom tape inside it. He set his hands over the top of his daughter's tape player and stared at everyone in turn before speaking.

"Okay guys," he said, his voice voice quivering. "Whatever's on this tape determines whether we can get Tifa back safely or not. The person that took her knows how wealthy we are and is gonna want a hefty some of gil. All of us have to agree right now to give the bastard what he wants. Tifa is more precious ta us and ta Vincent that none of us should have a reason to say the amount this person is askin' is too much. Right?"

My stomach clenched as I looked at everyone's face, wondering if Tifa really did mean that much to them. I found it a sickening trend that people living in this era found it extremely hard to part with their gil. Some even guarded their millions with their lives like those shiny coins and those stacks of colored paper were living things. People, young and old, at their wit's end, stole it, the rich greedily hoarded it and the poor clung to it like it alone could save them. The gil that I had collected as a mercenary was for Tifa and our unborn twins. As soon as she is safe and back home with me I'm giving her every single penny.

I sighed as everyone in the room nodded their heads enthusiastically, whole-heartedly agreeing. Barret looked over at me then pressed the play button, turning up the volume.

_Hello Avalanche. I suppose you've been running yourselves ragged trying to find your missing member. I've seen the posters, they're everywhere I go. Don't worry. I never bring Tifa anywhere with me. Whenever I leave I keep her locked up nice and tight. She's being well taken care of, you can rest assured about that. Well, at least she'll say that way unless you agree to my terms. I'm asking for two million gil be delivered to me for her safe return. I'll give you all one week to agree to my terms or disagree with them. When your week is up I'll contact you again. Oh, and in the mean time, don't bother trying to look for her. You have an entire planet to search if you'd like to try though. Oh and one more thing, Tifa is awfully close to her due date. Don't make the wrong decision._

No one spoke once the recording had stopped. The silence around me was so heavy I thought it would crush me. _Two million... Is he really that desperate?_

Then, like someone had flicked a switch, everyone erupted in shouts and yells all at once. I tuned them out, neither knowing or caring what they were talking about. Eventually the nose that was being created by their screaming became too much for me to handle.

"Shut up!" I bellowed, effectively silencing everyone. They all looked at me in shock, surprised that I had yelled so loudly. "Sorry," I mumbled, before walking out of the kitchen and through the front door.

I had just stepped off the sidewalk and onto the street when I heard Barret's clomping footsteps approaching me. I sighed heavily and turned around, waiting for him to catch up with me.

"Vincent, what was that about?"

"I'm sorry, Barret. I don't know what came over me."

"It's alright, man," Barret replied, laying a large hand on my shoulder. "We're all unda stress ovea all this bullshit."

"Yeah," I replied, nodding my head. "I just want my wife back, Barret. The day after she was Seto told me that she's pregnant with twins."

"How can he know that?" Barret asked incredulously.

"I don't know," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. I took in a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly. "At least I know that she's alive."

"So how far along is she now?"

"She should be a little over eight months."

"Then we still got a lot of time then right?" The large mayor asked, hopefulness in his voice.

"I"m not sure. I've read that twins usually come earlier than single births. Sometimes women carrying twins don't make it to full term."

"Well then that bastard had better keep up his end of the bargain. Come on, let's get back inside."

Barret put his hand on my back on my shoulder and led me back into his home even though I wanted nothing more than to turn right around and continue looking for Tifa.


	8. Anxiety

**Disclaimer:**

This story is the only thing I own, sadly.

**Author's Note:**

Sorry, for the slow update! I started a new job and I really really love it, which means I've been really really busy with it. I also work long hours so I haven't had a lot of time to write in the past week. But, fear not, hopefull I'll get the next chapter up soon!

Okay, I'm not gonna say anything else! Go read and gimme a review when you're done!

* * *

**Chapter VIII:**

**Anxiety**

The next morning when I woke up I was in another wood cabin in the middle of another forest. I swore silently and hit the mattress I was lying on. _How long has he been planning this?_ I let out a frustrated sigh and covered my face with my hands. If I wanted to I could have smashed a hole in the wall or beat Ronin senseless, that is, if I wasn't pregnant. I was sick of being locked up like this and sick of being dirty.

I sat up and was about to go pound down the door when I spotted a large paper bag sitting in the corner. Hoping and wishing the contents of the bag were fresh clothes I jumped up from the mattress as fast as I could and almost started to cry when I pulled out a few pairs of sweatpants, matching sweatshirts, thick socks and, to top it all off, enough undergarments to last me a month. _Now all I need is a shower._

I smiled and admired the new clothes for a few more moments before stuffing them back into the bag and setting it on my mattress. I then marched over to the door and knocked on it, hoping that Ronin was out there somewhere. Heavy footsteps and the click of the door lock was my answer.

"Yes?" He said once the door was open, sounding like I had interrupted him.

"I just wanted to ask if I could take a shower."

He silently turned my request over in his head before answering. "I guess," he replied, digging around in his pocket for the blindfold. He tied it around my face himself this time before leading me to the bathroom. "Everything you need is inside. You have thirty minutes."

Thirty minutes later I was a very happy woman and a clean one too. I was sitting on my mattress, enjoying the scent of my wet hair and doing a crossword puzzle, humming a tune to myself in my giddiness. I never thought I would be so happy to have a shower after being deprived of one for so long. When Ronin brought my dinner to me I decided to stop him for another round of questioning.

"So, Ronin, care to tell me what's happening in the outside world?" I said, really meaning what was going with my friends.

"They have a week to agree to my terms. After the week is up I'm going to contact them to see what their decision is."

"And what kind of 'terms' would that be?"

"Your friends either pay me two million gil or they don't get you back," he remarked, clasping his hands behind his back.

I scoffed and shook my head, averting my eyes from his. "How are you gonna contact them?"

"Does your husband have a cell phone?"

"Of course he does," I answered.

"That's how I'm going to contact them," Ronin replied, smiling at me before leaving the room and not letting me get in a word edgewise.

I settled more comfortably into my mattress to enjoy the rest of my dinner, all the while getting angrier about my situation every minute. Later, when I was getting ready for bed, I knew that this was going to be the longest week of my entire life.

* * *

"Why hasn't he called yet?" I asked for the fiftieth time that afternoon. "It's been a week. He's supposed to call."

"Vin, just settle down. He said he'd call so he's gonna call. He wants that two million gil pretty damn bad," Cid said, sticking a cigarette between his lips and lighting it.

"I can't settle down!" I whispered vehemently. "I'm about ready -" The ringing of my cell phone brought me back to senses. I reached into my pocket and dug it out, carelessly flipping it open without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Vincent Valentine, I presume?"

"Yes. And who might this be?" I asked with a shaky voice, already knowing the answer.

"Your wife's kidnapper of course."

"Where is she?" I asked, anger beginning to bubble up in the pit of my stomach.

"Now, now, Mr. Valentine, let's not jump the gun. You know what has to happen before you get to see her again. So, do you agree to my terms or not?"

"Yes, we do," I said, without a second thought. "We have the money."

"That's good," he said. "I'm glad to hear you're going to be so cooperative." He paused and chuckled a small amount. "Would you like to talk to your wife?"

"Yes, please," I said, my hands beginning to shake.

I heard the phone being passed over to Tifa, along with her shaky breathing as she placed it against her ear. "Vincent?"

I closed my eyes and let out the breath I had been holding in. "Tifa..." I maneuvered myself in front of the couch and quickly sat down before my knees had the chance to give out. I heard everyone scurry around me so they could listen in on the conversation. "You're okay."

"Yes, Vincent, I'm okay," she said, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Has he hurt you? I swear, Tifa, if he's laid a hand on you -"

"No, no, Vincent, he hasn't. Everyone's fine," she said, indicating that the babies she was carrying were all right as well. "All he wants is the money. He won't hurt me as long as he gets it."

"The money is as good as his. I just want you back."

"I know. I love you."

"I love you too and I miss you."

Tifa took a breath to respond but I heard her kidnapper wrap his hand around the phone and wrench it from her grasp before she got a chance to say anything. "That's all you get for now, I'm afraid. Let's get down to business."

"Alright, what do we have to do?"

"In three days at midnight come to the ruins of Mideel. It's deserted now so don't think you'll be able to try anything funny. Bring the money and come alone. If you don't follow my directions exactly, you'll never see your wife or your unborn child again. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, I understand. You'll get your money."

"Good. See you in three days."

* * *

"Mideel?" I said after he hand hung up the phone. "It's deserted? I thought some of the people still lived there."

"They cleared out over a year ago. Living next to such a large concentration of Lifestream will definitely start to mess with your head," he said, putting his cell phone back in his pocket.

"You are going to keep up your end of the bargain, right?" I asked, crossing my arms defiantly.

"Of course," he said, turning away from me and walking towards the door. "I'm not going to make you give birth out here."

"Oh, how generous of you."

A chuckle escaped his lips and he smirked at me before leaving me alone once more.

I rolled my eyes and groaned in frustration. Frankly, I was becoming extremely fed up with all of this. _This is not how I envisioned my first pregnancy._ I thought with a scowl.

A rustle in the bushes and a soft warble outside my window snapped me out of my thoughts. I rolled off my mattress and warily crawled over to the window, curious about what was poking around outside. I scooted onto my knees and gazed about, looking for the source of the noise. A large golden head appeared in front of the window a second later, making me gasp in surprise and fall back onto my butt.

I started laughing at myself when I realized that it was a chocobo, a gold one to be exact. _It's probably Ronin's. This must be how he gets around. _I thought, getting back up on my knees to greet the big golden bird.

The chocobo gazed at me with its bright blue eyes, watching my every move as I stuck my hand through the bars so I could touch it. The bird blinked its large eyes and warbled softly again before lifting its head so I could scratch its neck. I smiled as the large bird's chest thrummed with content as I gently scratched its sensitive skin.

Now, the bars covering my window are not only vertical but horizontal as well. All of them are also soldered together and are screwed into all four corners of the window frame. I'm not sure if the wood was rotten or if the frame itself was loose but, as I leaned forward to reach another part of the chocobo's neck, the window frame groaned in protest and broke away from the rest of the house. I gasped and lurched forward, grasping onto the bars with all my strength to prevent it from crashing to the ground.

I winced as I had to press my stomach up against the wall so I could more easily place the frame on the ground. The chocobo cooed and backed away, staring at the frame like it would suddenly spring to life. Once the frame was safely on the ground, I leaned away from the wall and massaged my stomach, wincing as the effects of pressing it up against the wall shot up my spine with every beat of my heart.

Once the pain in my abdomen subsided, I gingerly placed my hands on the now empty window sill, almost expecting a forcefield to spring up out of nowhere. I almost started crying as the realization that I might be able to escape popped into my head.

I had the mind to jump out of the window right then and there but Ronin insisted that every night before I went to sleep that I say good night to him, but before I did that I reached for the chocobo's head and gently pulled its head towards my face.

I had always been good with chocobos, when Avalanche was traveling the planet looking for Sephiroth I was usually the one handed the job of taking care of the chocobos whenever we made use of them. I was hoping that this one would be an especially good listener. I brought his eyes level with mind and stared deeply into those bright blue orbs. "Stay here," I said with a soft, but commanding voice.

To my relief, the chocobo warbled happily and settled down in the grass underneath my window then began to preen the feathers of its small wings. I watched it for a few seconds, making sure it wasn't going to wander off before tip toeing over to my door.

"Good night, Ronin," I called, flicking off my room light.

"Good night, Tifa," Ronin replied.

I quietly shuffled over to my mattress and sat down on it, patiently waiting for Ronin to go to his room, all the while listening to all the sounds the chocobo made outside, prepared to go and grab it if it decided to wander off. After what seemed like an eternity later, Ronin finally left the living room and retreated to his bedroom in the back of the house. I waited a little longer to ensure the secrecy of my getaway before creeping over to the window and carefully slipping out.

The large golden bird had fallen asleep but immediately woke up as soon as my feet touched the ground. He ruffled his wings and stood, looking down at me expectantly. I placed my hand on his neck as a feeling like I had been a prisoner who, after being locked up for years, was finally set free. For a few moments, I couldn't believe that I could finally, after almost a month, return to all my friends and most importantly Vincent.

The feeling of euphoria quickly passed and I began to walk away from my window, sighing with relief as the gold chocobo, my last hope of escape, obediently followed. The two of us gave the house a wide berth, circling around it just in case Ronin wasn't fully asleep yet. I was shocked when we came upon a path that led through the forest. I smiled broadly and coaxed the chocobo to sit down so I could more easily climb onto its back.

I glanced back at the cabin once more before ushering the chocobo forward. I breathed another sigh of relief as he obediently followed my command and began trotting down the path. As the distance between myself and that cabin became bigger and bigger the more at ease I felt. I wasn't out of danger yet; he could still notice that I was no longer in my room at any time. I kept my ears open for any foreign sound that didn't belong to the forest around me, even though it was extremely difficult to discern all the different sounds. It was night after all and at night everything seemed foreign.

_It can't be this easy. _I kept thinking. _No, wait! I can't jinx myself! I'm going to escape right out from Ronin's nose and he's not going to figure it out until tomorrow morning. _

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, knowing that I had to stay calm for the sake of the bird I was riding on. I needed it to stay cooperative or I was never going to get away.

The sound of a door slamming and heavy footsteps off in the direction of the cabin made my blood freeze in my veins.

_It's him! He knows!_ That horrifying thought replayed itself in my mind as I spurred the chocobo forward as fast as it would go. Tears began to blur my vision and I brought my hand up to hastily wipe them away, knowing that all wasn't lost yet. I could still get away from him.

We emerged from the trees moments later and were met with a wide expanse of beach that stretched almost endlessly to the left and the right. The chocobo felt my uneasiness about which way we should and just about stopped moving altogether until I urged him towards the ocean.

A gunshot sounded in the distance, making both myself and the chocobo jump in fright. We had almost reached the surf when three more gunshots sounded at the tree line. I felt the first two whiz by my head but the third, instead of flying harmlessly by me like the other two, hit its mark, sliding into my body like a hot knife through butter. I cried out in agony as white hot flashes of pain exploded from my back.

The chocobo warked in fear and dashed out onto the water a second later. The last thing I remember hearing were Ronin's screams of anger and the echo of gunshots.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, I know that you guys prolly want to kill me right about now for leaving such an evil cliffy but I promise if every single one who reads this reviews the next chapter will be up in no time!

You know what want to! Give that little button some lovin'! Do it for the pigmies down in New Guenea!


	9. Worst Nightmare

**Disclaimer:**

I didn't own it last chapter and I certainly don't own it this chapter...

**Author's Note:**

Hooray! Another update! Sorry it took so long! I've been working a bunch and I haven't been able to sit down at my computer and write for a while. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up like...next week or something. That's just a guess though.

Anyhoo, I'm really happy that so many people reviewed the last chapter! Thank you to all who took the time! I love every single one of you! So, if you would, please make the writer happy and give that button some more lovin' when you're done readin'! Ciao for now!

* * *

**Chapter XI:**

**Worst Nightmare**

I snapped to attention after I felt the chocobo stop abruptly. _I must have passed out. _The pain in my back flared as I sat up, making stars dance behind my eyes. My mind whirred incoherently as I tried to focus my blurry vision. I reached both my hands to my face and furiously rubbed my eyes. I needed to know exactly where I was so I could tell somebody, anybody that my kidnapper was trapped where I had left him.

I opened my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief when I could at least make out my surroundings. The chocobo warbled and looked back at me with its intelligent blue eyes. I smiled and patted its neck, scratching the sensitive skin beneath the feathers while looking around me. My eyes widened when I saw the Chocobo Bill's chocobo farm not far from where the golden bird had stopped. _He smelled more of his kind. That's why he stopped._

I looked behind at the ocean we had just left and I gasped in shock. "He had me trapped on Round Island. The clever bastard." I felt a wave of dizziness hit me and I knew that I had to get to Corel fast before I passed out from the blood loss. "Come on, boy," I said, ushering him forward. "We have to get to Corel."

The chocobo warbled in disappointment and took off.

* * *

I left Barret's home almost as soon as I had gotten off the phone with her kidnapper. I was eager to continue my search as well as escape any excitement that the recent phone call was more than likely going to cause. After leaving Corel I had made a sweep of Gongaga before setting off for Cosmo Canyon. It was unlikely the kidnapper would keep her anywhere near the canyon because of Nanaki's presence but I determined to leave no stone unturned.

I had just left Cosmo Canyon when my cell phone began to ring. I rolled my eyes and contemplated turning off the blasted contraption. Thank the Lifestream that I decided to answer it. I stopped dead in my tracks upon hearing the commotion on the other end of the line once I flipped my phone open.

"Vincent!" Came Yuffie's frantic voice. "You've got to get back here on the double!"

"What do you mean?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"It's Tifa!" The young ninja exclaimed breathless. "She's back!"

"What?"

"She just showed up on the back of a gold chocobo! And, Vince, she's been shot!"

To my surprise, I became more infuriated at Yuffie's words than fearful. Chaos took advantage of my anger and gladly took over my body. "I'm on my way, Yuffie," I managed to say before the transformation began.

The flight to Corel was a rather odd one to say the least. Usually when I transform I totally black out and take no part in what the demon does while it has control of my body. This time, as Chaos flew through the air toward Corel, it was like I was watching a movie or something. I could see and hear everything that was going on and I could communicate with Chaos as well. When I asked him about it, his reply was simple:

**The more often you transform, the easier it becomes for you to retain some sort of control. Sheesh, Valentine, I thought you knew that by now.**

Needless to say, that one bit was sort of a surprise to me. _Then I promise to make use of all of you more often. _I thought, hoping that would keep them satisfied.

**I'm holding you to your word, Valentine.**

_By all means, please do._

I touched down in Barret's front yard and, as Chaos charged towards the front door, I had still not begun to transform back. The gold chocobo that Tifa had appeared on was standing next to the wide open front door, watching everything that was going on inside. As soon as it picked up Chaos' scent, it warked in fear and bounded away to another area of the yard. I felt Chaos' urge to run after it but I quickly took over and began to transform back.

The transformation had just begun when I ran through the door and into the living room. They had placed Tifa on Barret's coffee table, which, strangely enough, was just the right size to accommodate her. I began to wonder why she was on the table instead of the couch but I received my answer as I saw Yuffie run off with a hand full of bloody towels.

Shera spotted me and rushed towards me, undeterred from the transformation I was still going through. She laid a restraining hand on my shoulder and steered me towards the kitchen, my back popping and cracking as Chaos' wings disappeared.

"Barret's already called an ambulance. They should be here any minute." Shera paused and looked back towards the living room. "It looks bad, Vincent. She's lost a lot of blood."

My throat became so dry I had to swallow four times before I could speak. "And the babies?"

Shera's eyes clouded over with confusion and I knew that Barret hadn't told anyone Tifa was having twins. "What do you mean, Vincent? Is Tifa carrying twins?"

I nodded my head solemnly. "She is."

Shera turned her head away from me so I wouldn't see the crystalline tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. I whipped my head around as I heard the ambulance coming up the street and, knowing I might not be able to see Tifa again for a few hours once the ambulance took her, I rushed over to the coffee table. She was laying on her left side so Yuffie, Cid and Barret could more easily clean the bullet wound in her back and try to stop the bleeding. Nanaki, Seto, Nava and Kayo were all sitting in front of her, keeping watch over her vigilantly.

My heart skipped a few beats when I saw her eyes closed, but the steady rise and fall of her chest reassured me. Kayo turned his head towards me and a relieved expression fell over his cat-like features. "Tifa's been asking about you ever since she got here," he said, pushing his brothers and father away so I could kneel in front of her.

"Tifa?" I gently shook her shoulder with my claw, hoping that she would be responsive enough to talk to me.

Tifa's eyelids fluttered slightly but didn't open. "She's really weak, Vincent," Seto whispered beside me.

I swallowed the enormous lump that had appeared in my throat and placed my right hand on her cheek. The ambulance's sirens could already be heard outside. "Tifa," I said a little more urgently, patting her cheek. "Tifa, wake up."

"What?" Her voice was barely a whisper and I had to strain my already sensitive ears to hear what she was saying.

"Do you know where you were being held?"

"An island...somewhere," She mumbled. "I can't remember."

"Tifa, you have to try. We can catch him if you can remember," I said, my voice starting to shake.

She was silent for such a long time that I thought she had passed out. I was getting ready to try and rouse her again whens he spoke, her voice still faint.

"Ronin...Round...Island."

As soon as she was finished speaking the paramedics ran through the door. I backed away from the table and wrapped my right hand around Cid's shoulder, steering him away from all the excitement so I could talk with him.

"I have a favor to ask, Cid."

"Sure, Vince, anything."

"Stay with Tifa. I have some...business to attend to," I said, watching the paramedics as they assessed Tifa's condition.

"Excuse me, are you Vincent Valentine?"

I turned to acknowledge the male paramedic that had appeared at my side just as I was getting ready to leave. He started tapping his pen nervously on the side of his clipboard he was holding when my eyes met his.

"I am."

"And Tifa is your wife correct?" He asked, scribbling something down.

"How far along is she?"

"Eight and a half months...and she's carrying twins."

If that news worried or shocked the paramedic, he didn't seem phased by it at all. "Alright, and do you know her blood type? She's lost a significant amount of blood so we need to get some more into her right away."

"Her blood type is B."

"Thank you, Mr. Valentine," he said, slipping his pen into his shirt pocket and folding his hands, clipboard and all, behind his back. "Will you be accompanying Tifa on the ambulance?"

I shook my head. "No." I reached back with my claw and pulled Cid forward. "This is Cid Highwind. He's going to be staying with Tifa," I said, making sure the young paramedic understood me by giving him one of my signature glares.

The young man's face paled as he set his eyes on the golden claw that was handing off Cid's shoulder. "O-Of course, Mr. Valentine." He signaled Cid to come with him and followed the other paramedics, who had already securely strapped Tifa onto the stretcher, out the door towards the ambulance. Once both Cid and Tifa were safely inside, I turned back to the others.

"I will return shortly."

"Where ya goin, Vincent?" Barret asked, taking a few steps towards me.

"To tie up a few loose ends."

With that said, I strode to the front door and once again let Chaos take over.

* * *

I had no idea what was happening; the pain in my back seemed like it had spread to every part of my body, making every breath, every movement I made agony. I'm not sure when the contractions started and I wasn't even sure if it was time for them to come. All I knew is that they were getting closer and closer together. I had managed to keep quiet when a contraction hit me but one extremely bad one made me cry out. I had the urge to push but I held myself back. I heard a familiar voice and someone else's hand take mine.

_I remember those hands..._

"Cid?" I winced as another contraction hit me.

I felt his other hand come to rest on my forehead. "Ya alright, Tifa?"

I shook my head and hat to bite down on my tongue as I felt another contraction. "It's time."

"How far apart are your contractions, Tifa?" He asked, his voice shaking.

"Really close."

I heard him start to talk to someone else but their words were drowned out as another contraction racked my body. Tears brimmed in the corners of my eyes as the bullet wound throbbed painfully.

"Where's Vincent?"

"Well, Tifa, he...uh, had to take care of something really quick. He'll be back soon," Cid stammered, giving my hand a comforting squeeze.

I bit my lip, knowing exactly what he was taking care of. _Allow him to die swiftly, Vincent._

* * *

I touched down on the beach of Round Island half an hour later. Using Chaos' unique senses, I sniffed the air, smirking as I immediately picked up Ronin's scent. "Remember Chaos, no playing around."

**I wouldn't dream of it.**

Up until this point, I had remained partly in control of Chaos' actions. Now I totally let go and allowed him full control, content to just sit and watch. I felt Chaos sigh in contentment.

"You're just too kind, Vincent," he said, making use of his voice. "Don't worry. You'll have your body back soon. This won't take long at all."

Chaos set off down the forest path at a brisk pace, but took his time once the cabin came into view. The could smell his prey inside; could smell the fear that radiated off of him like a beacon over being stranded here. He wouldn't even know what hit him.

Chaos licked his fangs in anticipation the closer he got to the cabin. Taloned fingers twitching anxiously, awaiting the upcoming kill. Chaos' anticipation became so great that once he reached the cabin's door, instead of opening it, he kicked it in, sending the door flying across the room. The ruckus caused by his entrance definitely got the young man's attention.

Booted feet came charging down the hall, not knowing who or what had just kicked his door in but angry enough to not care what it was. Ronin's eyes were mere millimeters away from popping out of his skull when he spotted the monstrosity that was standing in his doorway.

"Who – what are you?" He asked, cursing himself for leaving his gun in his room. _Not that is would help me right now anyways._

"Me?" Chaos asked, playing with him. A devilsh grin appeared on his face and a menacing growl rumbled deep in his chest. "I'm your worst nightmare."

I added my anger as fuel to Chaos' unquenchable fire, making the beast even more blood thirsty. Chaos roared then, snapping his wings open to make him look that much more menacing. Ronin, sensing he was doomed, attempted to run down the hall and barricade himself in his room as long as he could.

He didn't make it very far.

Before Ronin had the chance to even take one step, Chaos launched himself through the air, laughing as the young man screamed in terror. Chaos' claws entered Ronin's chest like his skin was made of paper. The demon's momentum slammed Ronin's back into the wall with a sickening crack. His cries of anguish turned to screams of terror as Chaos swung his head forward and embedded his fangs into his neck.

Ronin's screams quickly turned into incoherent gurgles as Chaos wrenched his head away, taking half of Ronin's throat with him. I shivered inwardly. _I'm going to taste Ronin's blood in my mouth for days._

Chaos growled in pleasure as the swallowed the still pulsing flesh and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. This wasn't one of his more exciting kills but it was a meal all the same. Falling to his knees next to the bleeding man, he cut his open with one sharp claw and ripped his still beating heart from his chest, not caring that Ronin was still alive to see it happen. Chaos made a show of presenting the still beating organ to its owner. Ronin looked at it with unbelieving eyes before they rolled over into the back of his head and his body stilled.

_Now that you've taken your sweet time, will you please hurry up?_ I asked, making sure he could feel my irritation.

Chaos rolled his glowing yellow eyes. "Fine, Valentine," he said with a huff.

I let my consciousness drift as Chaos fed, not wishing to watch him devour Ronin. It had already nauseated me enough to watch what I did. I usually never see what the demons that share my body do to their prey. I was about to ask Chaos if he was finished when the demon beat me to it.

"Thank you for the lovely meal, Vincent," Chaos rumbled, licking the blood off his claws as he walked out of the cabin.

_There is no need to thank me. Now let me back in control._

Chaos scoffed but acquiesced to my request and let me control his body. I flew back to Corel as fast as the demon's wings could carry me. I had no idea how much time had elapsed or what was happening in that hospital. _Please let all of them be alright._

* * *

I'm not sure what those paramedics gave me but it was like the world was moving in slow motion and on top of it all it was like I had been stricken deaf. The only thing I could hear was the beating of my own heart in my ears. The contractions were so close together now that if they didn't hurry my twins were going to come whether they were ready for them or not.

A tall, lean man with brown hair and glasses appeared over me and began talking with Cid. After I was pulled into a private room in the ER, he assessed my condition. I couldn't make out anything that he was saying so I had no clue what they were going to decide about how my babies were to be delivered.

A nurse hooked my left arm up to an IV drip and hooked my right arm up to a blood drip. I stared at the bag for a few moments, trying to see what blood type it was and was relieved when I saw a large 'B' stamped on the front of the bag. Slowly but surely, my world started to return to normal. The doctor asked me how far apart my contractions were and my answer scared everyone in the ER into action.

The doctor retrieved a syringe filled with a clear liquid and injected it into my IV bag. "The first thing we need to do is get that bullet out of your back and close up the wound so you don't lose anymore blood. The injection I just gave you will stop your labor long enough so we can get you patched up."

It took a few minutes for the contractions to stop but even then I knew that they had better hurry up and get that damned projectile out of my back. Cid appeared in front of me as the doctor and nurses helped me turn onto my right side.

"How ya doin, girl?" He asked, sitting down and taking one of my hands in his.

"Fine," I said, smiling at him. "My back still hurts though."

"What about that shot they gave ya?" He asked with a concern filled voice. "Is it workin'?"

I nodded and winced as they gave me a shot to numb the area around the bullet wound. "For the time being. They're ready, Cid. I'm not sure how long it's gonna keep working." I paused and took a slow, deep breath. "Is Vincent here yet?"

Cid shook his head and averted his eyes. "I don't think so, Tifa. I'm not sure when he'll be here."

"It's alright. I know what he went to do."

Cid nodded but said nothing else. I sighed and once again prayed that Vincent would give Ronin a swift death. _If nothing else he deserves at least that much._

The minutes ticked by agonizingly slow as the doctor worked to extract the bullet. The numbing agent they used working like a charm; I could feel anything of what they were doing. I felt my twins moving around inside me, impatient to come out and see the world. I found myself wondering if they would look more like Vincent or more like me as I stared at the calluses marking Cid's hand. What will they be like? What will they sound like? Which one will take after Vincent more? Which one will take after me more?

I smiled as hundreds of different scenarios flew through my head at what it would feel like when I was finally a mother. My happy thoughts were interrupted by the return of my contractions. I tensed and tried to keep my body from shaking because I wasn't sure if the doctor was finished or not. Cid noticed immediately.

"Hey, doc, how much longer? I think that stuff is starting to wear off."

The doctor chuckled and I heard him whisper something to one of his nurses. "Your twins just can't wait to get here, Mrs. Valentine. I'm going to give you another one of these shots, Mrs. Valentine, so we can get you ready for delivery."

I nodded and sighed in relief when I felt the contractions go away once again.

"I'm Doctor Marshall by the way," he said, shaking Cid's hand. "Well, let's get this underway. This shot will only last for about an hour or so so we better hurry."

After thirty agonizing minutes of changing into an itchy hospital gown, being transferred to a bed with stirrups and waiting for me to dilate all the way they were finally ready to deliver my twins. I sighed in disappointment because Vincent had still not shown up.

"Don't worry, Teef," Cid said, patting my hand. "He'll be here."

I nodded and rested my head against the pillow, wishing he was already here. _Vincent, where are you?_ My thoughts were interrupted as the contractions started up once again. I whimpered and squeezed Cid's hand.

The doctor chuckled as he scooted in front of me. "These babies are eager ones," he said, slipping gloves onto his hands. "Alright, Tifa, are you ready?"

I took in a deep, shuddering breath and looked to Cid for reassurance. He looked just about as nervous as me. _He's gonna have to go through this with Shera in a few months too._ I nodded and pursed my lips, feeling the beginnings of another string of contractions.

It took almost an hour of pushing and squeezing Cid's hand to a pulp for my to be born. My daughter came five minutes later. I was so exhausted, from both the loss of blood and going through child birth, that I passed out as soon as my twin's umbilical chords were cut.

* * *

**A/N: **Horray for babies! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Leave me some pretty little reviews and tell me! Go on, you know you want to!!


	10. Nicholas Adam and Malia Marie

**Disclaimer:**

No owning of the franchise...

**Author's Note:**

Well, everyone, this is the final chapter of **Our Life, As It Is Now**. So I hope you enjoy the last chapter! And I want to send a special thank you to everyone who came back to read this story after such a long hiatus. I wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for you wonderful readers supporting me along the way! Thank you so much!

Well what are you waiting for?! There's a chapter to be read! Go go go!

* * *

**Chapter X:**

**Nicholas Adam and Malia Marie**

I flew into the ER's waiting room and spied Barret standing alone, staring up at a television that was playing a late night talk show. "Barret!"

He whirled around and smirked when he saw me. "Damn, Vincent, took your sweet time did ya?"

"How's Tifa?"

"She's doin' fine," the large man replied, smiling widely. "And let me be the first to congratulate you on being a father."

My shoulders drooped in disappointment. "I missed it?"

Barret's smiling face grew solemn. "Yeah, I'm sorry, man. From what Cid says the contractions started on the ambulance. We tried callin' ya to tell ya that Tifa was getting ready to give birth but you didn' answer."

"I didn't even hear my phone," I said, my hands balling into tight fists. "I can't believe I missed it. I wish I could have been here."

"Hey, it's no big deal, man," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, Tifa's resting right now. You can go get a peek at your lil ones."

"Are they alright?" I asked as he escorted me through the white washed halls.

"Course they are!" He exclaimed. "The bastard was too far away from Tifa to do any real damage."

We entered the maternity ward and Barret steered me over to a large Plexiglas window where three nurses were taking care of a about a dozen new borns. My eyes were immediately drawn to a large bassinet that held two small babies wrapped in a blue and pink blanket with small caps adorning their heads. Barret waved at one of the nurses when they saw us and the one standing closest the the large bassinet excitedly waved another one over. They happily scooped up the tiny infants and scurried over to the window to display them for me and Barret.

At that moment, as I gazed at the children I had made with Tifa, I felt more love for her than I had ever felt since I married her. A genuine smile appeared on my face as I looked between the two, amazed that that two infants had a part of me in them. I silently cursed myself for missing their birth.

I found myself staring at their closed eyes, wondering what color they would be when they finally opened. Would their hair be black like mine or dark chocolate brown like Tifa's?

I mouthed a silent thank you to the nurses before they returned the babies back to their bassinet. Barret chuckled beside me and slapped my back.

"They're cute, huh?"

I nodded, unable to take my eyes off of them. "They are."

"Well, come on," he said, laying his hand on my shoulder once again and leading me away from the window. "Let's go see Tifa."

* * *

_Oh, my back..._ I winced as my back continued to throb as my mind slowly came back to consciousness. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and was shocked to find all my friends crowded around my bed. I smiled as I realized all of them were sleeping. Marlene was curled into Yuffie's lap and Nanaki was snuggled up at the foot of my bed. Cid and Shera were sitting beside each other, their heads lolling against their chest and Reeve had fallen asleep with his hand under his chin.

As I was leaning back against my pillows I casually laid my hands over my stomach and jumped, gasping in fright when I felt my now flat stomach.

Nanaki's head flew off his paws, his hackles raised. "Are you okay, Tifa?" He asked, crawling towards me.

"Where are they, Nanaki? What happened to them?" I asked in a panicked voice, not remember that I had already given birth to them.

"Tifa, your twins are fine. They're with the nurses right now," the large feline replied, nuzzling my arm. "They're beautiful, Tifa."

I breathed a sigh of relief and flopped back down into my pillows as my memory came rushing back to me. "Now I remember. I was so delirious earlier I could barely tell up from down." I took a deep breath and adjusted my position so my back wouldn't hurt as much.

"Is Vincent here yet?" I asked, inspecting all the faces around my bed again to make sure I didn't over look him.

Nanaki shrugged his large shoulders. "I am not sure," he said, shaking his head. "Barret volunteered to wait for him in the front. That was over half an hour ago though."

The opening of the door silenced both of us and a broad smile crawled onto my face as the man of the hour walked through the door, followed by Barret. Without missing a beat, he rushed to my bedside and hugged me to his chest for the first time in a month. I wrapped my around around him with crushing force and smothered my face into his chest, reveling in the smell of his clothes and the essence of him.

"I love you," I whispered into his shirt.

He brought his right hand up and ran his fingers through my hair. "I love you. More than you know."

I pulled my face away from Vincent's chest and kissed his neck lightly a few times. I felt his body relax and melt into me at those simple touches. He sighed and kissed my forehead before cupping my face with his hands.

"Have you seen them yet?" He asked, a slight sparkle in his eyes that I had never seen before.

"No, I passed out after they were born. I just woke up a few minutes ago," I said, unwrapping my arms from around Vincent's waist and leaning back against my pillows. "Can I see them now?"

Vincent looked back at Barret who smiled and nodded before disappearing out of the door again. Vincent settled down in a vacant chair next to my bed and took my hand into his while I waited to see my twins.

Nanaki chuckled and rested his head in my lap. "It's rather comical that the man who misses his offspring's birth is the first one to see them, isn't it, Tifa?"

I smiled and scratched the top of the big cat's head. "Yes, it certainly is." I looked over at Vincent and started laughing when I saw the uncomfortable look on his face and squeezed his hand comfortingly. "It's alright, Vincent. I know what you had to do." I paused and took a deep breath. "It's alright."

Vincent brushed my knuckled with his thumb and looked at me adoringly, a small smile tugging on his lips. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted as Yuffie chose that point in time to let out a very loud and obnoxious yawn.

"Boy, I sure did need that nap," she said, her voice thick with sleep. She lazily rubbed her eyes and jumped in surprise when she saw me sitting up. "Oh, Tifa!" She carefully lifted the still sleeping Marlene off her and set her back in the chair before coming to my bedside. "How are you feeling?"

"My back and stomach are a little sore but other than that I'm fine."

"That's good. All of us were so worried about you." Her face brightened a small amount. "Have you gotten to see them yet?"

I rolled my eyes and feigned sarcasm. "Don't tell me you got to see them too."

Yuffie nervously scratched the back of her head. "Well, all of us kinda got to. It was from a distance though. None of us has held them yet."

I sighed and reassuringly patted the young ninja's hand. "Thanks, Yuff."

Barret barged through the door then, effectively waking everyone in the room up. "Alrigh' everybody, up an' at 'em!" He bellowed. "We havta move these chairs outta the way!"

Everyone listened to the large man's instructions and pushed all the chairs towards the far wall to make room for the twin's bassinet that the nurses wheeled through the door. I stared down at the small blue and pink bundles in anticipation, my heart beat quickening at finally getting to see the children I had so longed for.

The nurses carefully picked up the tiny bundles and brought them to me, helping me arrange them so they were laying in my arms comfortably. I took a few moments to gaze at them and almost felt like crying as I gazed upon the products of mine and Vincent's love for each other. These two beautiful babies that we had made together.

_Well, at least I know he makes adorable children._ I thought with a smile. _They're more beautiful than I ever imagined they would be._

"We're glad that you're awake, Mrs. Valentine," one nurse whose name tag read 'Michelle' said. "Now we can finish their birth certificates." The other nurse handed her a clipboard, her name tag reading 'Janice'. "Do you have names picked out?"

I nodded, unable to rip my eyes away from their sleeping faces. "I do." I paused for a moment and looked at my son. "Nicholas Adam and..." I paused, looking at my daughter. "Malia Marie." I looked at Vincent as I finished speaking and when I saw the proud expression that he wore I knew I had chosen the right name for our daughter.

"Those are beautiful names, Mrs. Valentine," Michelle said, scribbling the name's down quickly. "We'll have those finished for you when you're ready to go home. Congratulations!"

"Thank you," I whispered, taking my eyes away from my twins long enough to smile at the nurses as they left, leaving the bassinet behind.

"Malia, huh?" Yuffie mumbled. "That's beautiful, Tifa. Where did you get it?"

"It was in a word search I was doing a week ago. I'm not sure what it means."

"Wow," Yuffie said with wonderment. "That's a gorgeous name."

"Well, I think the new parents would like to be alone for a while. Come on, guys, let's go," Barret said, ushering everyone out the door.

After everyone had shuffled out of the room and the door latched shut behind them did I look back at Vincent. He was staring at our twins like they were the finest porcelain dolls in the world. His eyes shone with hidden thoughts as he looked upon them.

"Which one do you want to hold first?" I asked.

He blinked and looked up at my face. "Hm?" He mumbled, not hearing a word that I had said.

"Do you want to hold Nicholas or Malia first?" I asked again, laughing a small amount.

He licked his lips and rose from his chair, closing the small gap between himself and my bed. I saw his eyes stray to Malia more than once before he spoke. "Can I see Malia?"

"Of course you can, Vincent. You're her father. Take her," I said, unable to help pass my small daughter to him.

He raised shaking hands and began to reach for her, but hesitated and stopped short, flexing the shining digits of his claw. I knew immediately what he was thinking.

"You won't hurt her, Vincent."

That simple statement was enough to make him commit to take her in his arms. He gently scooped her head into the palm of his claw and carefully lifted her away from me. He brought her towards his chest and stared at her, a look of wonderment shining in his eyes. I shifted Nicholas from my left arm to my right and lovingly brushed my fingertips over his cheek. I jumped in surprise and jerked my hand away when he stirred, slowly opening his eyes, revealing dark pools of brown that shone red when the light hit them at just the right angle. My heart fluttered as my son inspected my face, committing it to his memory.

I smiled and felt tears well up in the corners of my eyes. "Hello, Nicholas," I said, barely above a whisper. I leaned down and kissed his forehead, hugging him to me as close as I possibly could without smothering him.

I glanced over to see how Vincent was faring with Malia and was overjoyed to see that she had opened her eyes as well. Vincent was staring down at her with the most captivating stare I had ever seen and Malia was staring right back. My attention was wrenched away from the heart warming scene before me when I felt a soft touch on the side of my face. My heart melted when I realized Nicholas was the one touching me.

Somehow he had wrestled his left arm free of his blanket and was working on the right one. I reached over with my left hand and grabbed his tiny fingers, my heart swelling with pride as I felt him squeeze my finger. "You're gonna be a strong one," I whispered.

Vincent leaned down and planted a kiss on my forehead. "I love you, Mrs. Valentine."

"And I love you, Mr. Valentine," I said, turning my head to look at him.

We kissed then as both of our children squirmed in our arms.

* * *

**A/N:** Oh and the pronunciation for Malia is Ma-le-ah. And it's actually the name of my cousin's dog.

Anyhoo, please leave a loverly review and make me a very happy writer! Yeah, that button right there. Come on, you know you want to!!


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